생화학분자생물학회

	Name: Jungsoo Gim ( jgim@chosun.ac.kr )
	2018-present	Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Science, Chosun University
	2017-2017	Visiting Scientist, Department of Biostatistics, Harvard University, USA
	2015-2018	Assistant Professor (Research), Institute of Health and Environment, Seoul National University
	2006-2014	Ph.D., Interdisciplinary Program for Bioinformatics, Seoul National University

Genetic architecture of human aging and longevity: Insights from genome-wide association studies

Aging represents a fundamental evolutionary feature shared across all living organisms, intrinsically coupled with development and lifespan. It is orchestrated by a complex polygenic architecture involving numerous small-effect variants distributed across diverse biological pathways, giving rise to striking interindividual variation in aging trajectories and lifespan. Over the past decade and a half, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have uncovered multiple loci associated with lifespan, healthspan, exceptional longevity, and aging, converging on key biological processes such as lipid metabolism, inflammation, insulin/IGF signaling, and DNA repair. These discoveries have illuminated conserved molecular networks underlying the regulation of aging and longevity. Nevertheless, the identified variants collectively account for only a modest fraction of heritability, underscoring that aging and longevity arise from the cumulative and coordinated actions of myriad common alleles within complex biological networks. In this minireview, we consolidate major genetic discoveries from GWAS focused on aging and longevity, outline recurrent molecular pathways and themes, and examine how these results advance our comprehension of the genomic bases underlying lifespan variation. We also address significant unresolved issues, including phenotypic heterogeneity, population-specific genetic influences, and the inadequate predictive accuracy of existing models, and propose conceptual directions for future research towards establishing a more integrative and mechanistic understanding of the genetic architecture of human aging and healthy longevity.