If your father and grandfather were older when you were conceived, you may live longer...

If your father and grandfather were older when you were conceived, you may live longer...

If your father and grandfather waited until they were older before reproducing, you might experience life-extending benefits.

Biologists assume that a slow pace of aging requires that the body invest more resources in repairing cells and tissues.

A new Northwestern University study suggests that our bodies might increase these investments to slow the pace of aging if our father and grandfather waited until they were older before having children.

"If your father and grandfather were able to live and reproduce at a later age, this might predict that you yourself live in an environment that is somewhat similar — an environment with less accidental deaths or in which men are only able to find a partner at later ages," said Dan T.A. Eisenberg, lead author of the study and a doctoral candidate in anthropology at Northwestern. "In such an environment, investing more in a body capable of reaching these late ages could be an adaptive strategy from an evolutionary perspective."

Christopher W. Kuzawa, co-author of the study, associate professor of anthropology at Northwestern and a faculty fellow at the University's Institute for Policy Research, said the new findings are fascinating.