Our shockingly short lives without modern medicine revealed – Newshub

Without modern medicine chances are you'd be dead before 40, new research has found.

Scientists in Australia say the "natural" human lifespan is just 38 - the age Britney Spears is right now, and less than half the 81 years the average New Zealander can expect from the day they're born.

They figured this out by looking at DNA from 262 different species, and how long they're known to live. Using this data, they have been able to work out the lifespans of extinct species - including early humans such as Neandarthals and Denisovans.

"Using the known lifespans of 262 different vertebrate species, we were able to accurately predict lifespan from the density of DNA methylation occurring within 42 different genes," said Ben Mayne of Australia's CSIRO research institute.

"There are many genes linked to lifespan, but differences in the DNA sequences of those genes doesn't seem to explain differences in lifespan between different species.

"Instead, we think that the density of a special type of DNA change called DNA methylation, determines maximum natural lifespan in vertebrates. DNA methylation does not change a gene's sequence but helps control whether and when it is switched on."

Using this knowledge, they worked out that early modern humans - the same as us, anatomically - would have lived about 38 years. This is about the same as other early human species, such as Denisovans and Neandarthals.

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Our shockingly short lives without modern medicine revealed - Newshub