The aim of the Integrated Project (IP) GEHA is to identify genes involved in healthy aging and longevity, which allow individuals to survive to advanced old age in good cognitive and physical function and in the absence of major age-related diseases. To achieve this aim a coherent, tightly integrated program of research that unites demographers, geriatricians, geneticists, genetic epidemiologists, molecular biologists, bioinfomaticians and statisticians has been set up. The genetic analysis will be performed by 9 high throughput platforms,  within the framework of a centralized database. The working plan of this IP is to: (i) collect an unprecedented number (2650) of long-lived (90+) sibpairs from 11 European countries; (ii)  perform a genome scan by microsatellites in all the sibpairs (a total of 5300 individuals) (iii) study in cases (i.e. the 2650 probands of the sibpairs) and controls (2650 young people), the three genomic regions  (chromosome 4, D4S1564, chromosome 11, 11.p15.5, and chromosome 19, around APOE) which were identified in previous studies as to be involved in aging and longevity. This investigation will be followed by positional cloning and mutational analysis and preceded by LD block structure in CEPH families. (iv) study all the recruited people will also be genotyped for mitochondrial DNA haplogroups and mutations known to play a major role in aging and longevity. Additional advanced approaches (bioinformatics, advanced statistics, mathematical modelling, functional genomics and proteomics, molecular biology, molecular genetics) are envisaged to identify the gene variant(s) of interest. Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI), Beijing and Hangzhou, China will also partecipate as full partner contributing to the search for genetic variations of relevance to healthy aging in its large collection of  80+ individuals and young control subjects in order to compare the findings from the European material with the situation in the ethnically different Han Chinese, and with its expertise in bioinformatics and human HAPMAP. The experimental design will also allow (i) to identify gender-specific genes involved in healthy aging and longevity in women and men stratified for ethnic and geographic origin and APOE genotype; (ii) to perform a longitudinal survival study to assess the impact of the identified genetic loci on 90+ people mortality, (iii). to develop mathematical and statistical models capable of combining genetic data with demographic characteristics, health status, socio-economic factors, lifestyle habits.