萬萬沒想到：讓人年輕2歲的祕訣竟然是它！

Scientists say they have made a leap in knowing why some people retain their youthful looks while others age badly.
科學家稱他們已經在探究爲什麼有的人青春長駐而另一些人逐年老去這一問題上取得突破性進展。

They found the first part of human DNA - the genetic code - that seems to affect how old people look to others. The mutations, reported in the journal Current Biology, were in the genetic instructions for protecting the body from UV radiation. But these can also lead to red hair, and experts caution the findings may be confused by eye, skin or hair colour.
他們發現人類DNA——基因密碼——的第一部分似乎會影響一個人在別人眼裏看起來有多老。據《當代生物學》雜誌報道，遺傳指令會發生變化，保護身體免受紫外線輻射的傷害。但這些變化同時會導致頭髮變紅，而且專家警告說研究結果會受到瞳色、膚色或髮色的影響。

The study into "perceived age" was organised by the Erasmus University Medical Centre in the Netherlands and Unilever. Images of the make-up free "naked-face" of 2,693 people were independently assessed to see what age people thought they looked. This was compared with their true age. The next stage of the research was to scour the 2,693 people's DNA to find any differences or mutations that were more common in those who looked younger than they really were.
荷蘭伊拉斯姆斯醫學中心和聯合利華共同組織了本次針對“外表年齡”的研究。試驗中分別評估了2693位完全沒有化妝的“裸臉”人員照片，看人們認爲照片裏的人有多大年齡，再將評估結果與他們的真實年齡進行比照。試驗的下一個步驟是檢測這2693個人的DNA，探究那些看起來比實際年齡更顯年輕的人有什麼共同之處，找到他們的基因與別人相比有什麼不同特點或變異之處。

All the evidence pointed to the MC1R gene - it is critical for making melanin, which affects skin pigmentation and protects against UV radiation from the Sun. But the gene comes in many different forms, or variants, many of which cause red hair - hence the nickname "the ginger gene". The study suggested some variants of the gene led to people looking, on average, two years younger than those with other forms of MC1R.
所有的研究結果都指向了MC1R基因——這種基因在生成黑色素時非常關鍵，會影響皮膚的色素沉着，保護皮膚免遭陽光紫外線輻射的傷害。然而，這種基因有多種存在形式或者變體，其中許多變體還會導致頭髮變紅——因此它又被稱作“活力基因”。研究發現，這種基因的某些變體與其它存在形式的MC1R相比，能讓人看上去平均年輕兩歲。

Prof Ian Jackson, from the UK Medical Research Council's Human Genetics Unit, said the study was interesting, but had not found the fountain of youth. He said: "MC1R is the major gene involved in red hair and pale skin, and what they're trying to say is it's got an impact on making you look slightly younger that isn't to do with paler skin, but I'm not so sure."
來自英國醫學研究委員會人類基因研究小組的伊恩·傑克遜教授說這份研究很有趣，但還沒有找到青春之泉。他說：“MC1R是和紅頭髮、淺膚色相關的主要基因，但研究想表明的是MC1R基因能讓你看起來略微年輕一點，而不是讓你的皮膚更白一點，但我對此不太確定。”

More research is planned, but Dr Gunn hopes the findings will eventually lead to a product to make people look younger. However, it is far from clear whether it will be possible to lower someone's "perceived age".
更多研究已納入計劃之中，但甘恩博士希望研究結果是最終能研製出一種讓人們看起來更年輕的產品。然而，對於有沒有可能降低一個人的“外表年齡”，一切尚不明瞭。