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Life

Inbred humans live to a ripe old age

By Colin Barras

23 January 2008

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

(Image: stock.xchng)

Marry your cousin to have long-lived kids? Inbreeding is not usually mooted as the key to longevity, but Giuseppe Passarino of the University of Calabria in Rende, Italy, thinks it might be. “Everyone knows that inbreeding is bad – it increases your chances of catching a range of diseases,” he says. “But on the other hand, our study suggests that if inbreds don’t get those diseases when they’re young, they might have a better chance of long life.”

Passarino and his colleagues used census data to identify a geographically isolated region of southern Italy with more than its fair…

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