Where You Live Can Change How Quickly You Age, Large International Study Shows

A new international study suggests that the place you live can influence biological aging as much as — and in some ways independently from — your genetic ancestry. Researchers combined genetics with a wide array of molecular and microbial measures to compare people of similar heritage living in different regions, and found persistent ancestry-linked signatures alongside location-driven shifts in metabolism, immunity and cellular ageing.

Study Design and Scope

The team recruited 322 volunteers from around the world (many were attendees at five scientific conferences) representing ancestral backgrounds from Europe, East Asia and South Asia. Instead of examining only DNA, scientists collected rich molecular data — proteins, lipids, metabolites, immune markers and gut microbiome profiles — to create a detailed snapshot of each participant's biology.

Key Findings

Ancestry left a clear, persistent imprint: participants with shared heritage tended to retain similar baseline genetics, microbiome composition and metabolic patterns regardless of where they lived. Examples included heightened immune surveillance in people of South Asian descent, distinct fat-metabolism signatures among East Asian participants, and greater microbiome diversity on average in people of European ancestry.

At the same time, geography mattered. Relocation was associated with measurable molecular changes, and in some cases with altered biological age (an estimate of how 'old' tissues and cells appear compared with chronological age). Notably, East Asian participants living outside East Asia showed signs of accelerated biological aging versus those living in the region. Conversely, Europeans living in Europe showed more advanced biological aging markers than Europeans living in North America.

Microbiome, Lipids and Telomeres

The gut microbiome emerged as an important mediator: certain bacteria correlated with changes in sphingolipids, a class of fats that were linked to genes involved in maintaining telomeres — the protective caps on chromosomes associated with cellular aging. The authors note that elevated sphingolipid levels have been tied to higher risks of cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, atherosclerosis and neurodegeneration.

Implications and Cautions

These results suggest medical and nutritional guidance should account for both genetic ancestry and geographic context rather than assuming a one-size-fits-all approach. However, the authors caution that this is not evidence that any ethnicity ‘‘ages better’’ or ‘‘worse’’ universally. The study is observational, the sample is modest and partly composed of conference attendees (a convenience sample), and causation cannot be inferred from these associations alone.

Possible Drivers

The researchers propose several likely contributors to the location-linked differences: diet, pollution exposure, healthcare access, chronic stress, lifestyle changes after moving, and shifts in the gut microbiome. They call for larger, more diverse studies to confirm mechanisms and to better inform precision medicine that reflects true global diversity.

Publication

The study has been published in the journal Cell.

"Our biology is shaped by a combination of both our genetic ancestry and the places we live," said study co-author Richard Unwin. The findings highlight the need to include global diversity in medical research and to tailor recommendations to both ancestry and environment.