The CEPH aging cohort and biobank: a valuable collection of biological samples from exceptionally long-lived French individuals and their offspring for longevity studies.

The increasing aging of the human population is currently and for the coming decades a major public health issue in many countries, requiring the implementation of global public health policies promoting healthy and successful aging. Individuals are not equal in the face of aging and some can present exceptional healthspan and/or lifespan, which are notably influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Research and studies on human aging, healthy aging and longevity should rely in particular on cohorts of long-lived individuals, also including biological samples allowing studies on the biology of aging and longevity.

Circulating cell-free nucleic acids of plasma in human aging, healthy aging and longevity: current state of knowledge.

Circulating cell-free nucleic acids (ccfNAs) of plasma are a remarkable source of genetic, epigenetic and transcriptomic materials originating from different cells, tissues and organs of an individual. They have been increasingly studied over the past decade as they can carry several important pieces of information about the health status of an individual, which makes them biomarkers of choice for non-invasive diagnosis of numerous diseases and health conditions. However, few studies have investigated variations of plasma ccfNAs in healthy subjects, particularly in relation to aging, healthy aging and longevity, despite the great variability of these biological processes among individuals.