A powerful new link has been discovered between where we live and how fast we age.
New research suggests that healthcare needs to be tailored to genetic ancestry and environment rather than a one-size-fits-all model.
A global team, led by Stanford University, found that moving continents was enough to shift major metabolic pathways and alter the balance of gut microbes in people.
“The most dramatic finding was that geography appears to change biological age – the molecular measure of how old your cells look,” the research report, released this week, said.
“East Asians living outside Asia were biologically older than those who stayed in Asia.
“Europeans showed the opposite pattern, appearing biologically younger when living outside Europe.”
The report said that the study showed clearly that our biology was shaped by a combination of genetic ancestry and the places we live
The research, published in the Cell journal, analysed 322 healthy people from Europe, East Asia and South Asia.
It measured genes and proteins, gut bacteria, metabolic chemicals and metals to understand how ethnicity and geography shaped biology.
The researchers found that ethnic background left a “deep mark” on the immune system, metabolism and gut bacteria regardless of where you moved.
“South Asian volunteers showed signs of higher exposure to pathogens across multiple biological layers,” they said.
“European participants had richer gut microbial diversity and higher levels of chemicals tied to heart disease risk.”
Geography also rewired key molecular networks involved in cholesterol, inflammation and energy processing.
“Moving continents was enough to shift major metabolic pathways and alter the balance of gut microbes,” the report said.
More details are available here.
