Longevity Variant

Your result, the one DNA position behind it, and what the research says.

7/10 confidence.

About Longevity Variant

FOXO3 sits at the end of the insulin and growth-signaling pathway, where it switches on genes for stress resistance, damage repair and cellular housekeeping. Reduce that growth signaling in worms, flies or mice and they live markedly longer, and the effect runs through the FOXO equivalent in each. In humans, variants near FOXO3 turn up again and again in studies of people who reach extreme old age, and they have replicated in Japanese, European, Chinese and other cohorts independently. That cross-population replication is rare and is what makes this variant unusual.

Good to know: FOXO3 is one of very few longevity findings that replicates across unrelated populations. The same pathway extends life in worms, flies and mice. This shifts odds across a population; it forecasts nothing for an individual.

Fun fact: Reducing the same growth-signaling pathway can double the lifespan of a nematode worm, and the gene it runs through is FOXO3's direct equivalent.

Discovery: FOXO3 was linked to exceptional longevity at this position in a study of Japanese-American men published in 2008, and the finding has replicated in several unrelated populations since.

The Variant

The single variant behind this trait

Gene: FOXO3

Variant (rsID): rs2802292

Location: Chr 6:108,587,315

dbSNP rs2764264

The studies

FOXO3A genotype is strongly associated with human longevity (Willcox BJ et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008)

Novel protective effect of the FOXO3 longevity genotype on mechanisms of cellular aging in Okinawans (Torigoe TH et al., npj aging, 2024)

Lack of association between common polymorphisms associated with successful aging and longevity in the population of Sardinian Blue Zone (Errigo A et al., Scientific reports, 2024)

The role of longevity-related genetic variant interactions as predictors of survival after 85 years of age (Šetinc M et al., Mechanisms of ageing and development, 2024)

Genetic variants associated with longevity in long-living Indians (Pemmasani SK et al., npj aging, 2024)

Other lifestyle traits

Mitochondrial Antioxidant: A change that alters how well the main mitochondrial antioxidant enzyme is imported into mitochondria, where the work actually happens.

Selenium Enzyme Activity: A change in glutathione peroxidase 1, a selenium-containing enzyme that neutralises hydrogen peroxide inside cells.

Adrenaline Receptor Tuning: A change in the beta-2 adrenaline receptor, the switch adrenaline uses to open airways and to make brown fat generate heat.

Back to All Traits

Content updated September 2026.

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