Key points from article :
Meta study combines genetic, lifestyle and family data from 600,000 people.
Looking at their parents’ lifespan allowed assessment of impacts of gene variants.
Every year spent in education added 11 months to people’s lifespan.
Every kilogram overweight decreased lifespan by two months.
Openness to new experience also increased life expectancy.
One gene variant which increased levels of bad cholesterol reduced lifespan by eight months.
Another gene variant linked to the immune system half a year.
The study was published in the Nature Communications.