Genomic analysis of longevity offers the potential to illuminate the biology
of human aging. Here, using genome-wide association meta-analysis of 606,059
parents’ survival, we discover two regions associated with longevity (HLA-
DQA1/DRB1 and LPA). We also validate previous suggestions that APOE, CHRNA3/5,
CDKN2A/B, SH2B3 and FOXO3A influence longevity. Next we show that giving up
smoking, educational attainment, openness to new experience and high-density
lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels are most positively genetically
correlated with lifespan while susceptibility to coronary artery disease
(CAD), cigarettes smoked per day, lung cancer, insulin resistance and body fat
are most negatively correlated. We suggest that the effect of education on
lifespan is principally mediated through smoking while the effect of obesity
appears to act via CAD. Using instrumental variables, we suggest that an
increase of one body mass index unit reduces lifespan by 7 months while 1 year
of education adds 11 months to expected lifespan