{
  "id": 6607161,
  "title": "Convergent Amino-Acid Substitutions Link Primate Longevity to Male-Fertility Genes",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/convergent-amino-acid-substitutions-link-primate-longevity-to-male",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-09-10T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.04.749475v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A recent study has revealed a link between primate longevity and genes associated with male fertility. Researchers analyzed the genomic data of 126 primate species, focusing on seven long-lived and six short-lived species. By applying a phylogenetically informed approach and examining body-mass-corrected longevity, they identified 1,068 recurrent amino-acid substitutions in 934 genes. This analysis revealed a significant enrichment of genes related to mammal-wide longevity candidates, with 226 genes shared across species compared to the expected 120 by chance (a 1.88-fold enrichment; P = 1.16 x 10exp-22).\n\nFunctional analysis of these genes detected 17 significant terms, with the strongest evidence pointing to male infertility and decreased male fertility. The findings suggest that primate sampling can uncover a non-random component of the broader mammalian longevity signal. This research suggests that male reproductive biology could be a promising area for further investigation into the evolution of lifespan.",
  "summary": "Maximum lifespan varies widely among mammals, but the genomic basis of this variation remains incompletely understood. We used body-mass-corrected longevity and a phylogenetically informed phenotype-shift framework to compare 126 primate species, selecting seven long-lived and six short-lived species for convergent amino-acid substitution analysis. Stringent pooling across species identified…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}