American scientists have found that children with older fathers and grandfathers are ‘genetically programmed’ to live longer. New study from Northwestern University revealed that delaying fatherhood may offer longer and healthier lives for the children, Press TV reported. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science on Monday, said that the children who have older fathers in late 30s and early 50s inherit longer telomeres, structures that sit at the end of the chromosomes protecting them from degeneration and damage.
Longer telomeres appear to promote slower aging and could benefit the children in having longer lives, the study said after the researchers analyzed the DNA of 1,779 young adults living in the Philippines over a 30-year period.
The children would even live longer if their paternal grandfathers had also delayed fatherhood.