The oldest human
Robine, J.M.; Allard, M.
Science 279(5358): 1834-1835
1998
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-8075 PMID: 9537897 Document Number: 486718
The writers report on their investigation of the ancestry of the oldest recorded human being, Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days. They identified 62 of Calment's ancestors, corresponding to five generations, and were able to validate the length of life of 55 of these. Although they did not observe any trace of simple hereditary transmission of longevity among these individuals, they found an extraordinary concentration of long-living people, particularly on Calment's paternal side.