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The researchers found that the natural life span of human beings is 38 years

Original title: scientists discover the life clock in DNA: human natural life span is 38 years old

Recently, according to foreign media reports, a new study published in the "scientific report" shows that in the past 200 years, due to the progress of modern medicine and changes in lifestyle, the average life expectancy of human beings has been more than twice as long as before.

The researchers found that life clocks can estimate the life span of vertebrates by the location of DNA methylation in 42 specific genes. But they were unable to accurately estimate the life span of invertebrates because invertebrates did not show the same level of DNA methylation as vertebrates.

The researchers point out that life expectancy varies widely among species, such as pygmy goby goby fish, which can only live for eight weeks, while Greenland sharks can live for more than 400 years. Life expectancy of long-lived species is more difficult because they tend to live longer than researchers.

Based on the life clock and bowhead whale genome data, the researchers estimated that the maximum life expectancy of bowhead whales is 268 years; the life expectancy of chimpanzees, a close relative of humans, is about 39.7 years; the maximum life expectancy of wild chimpanzees is 55 years; and that of the extinct ancient humans closest to modern humans, Neanderthals and denisovans, is 37.8 years old.

For the extinct species, the researchers calculated that the life span of mammoths is 60 years, which is similar to that of modern African elephants (65 years); the life expectancy of the caravan pigeon, which was extinct in 1914, is 28 years; the life span of pinta Island elephant turtle, which was extinct in 2012, is 120 years. The last member of this species, 'lonely George', died in 2012 at the age of 112.

Understanding the life span of wild animals is very important for the management and protection of wild animals, and also has biological significance for the study of extinct species.