Is there a gene that keeps us healthy?

The DNA of men and women over 80 may provide the answer.

Scripps Health in San Diego is seeking 1,000 people nationwide to provide samples for its “Wellderly Study.”

Participants, who must not have a history of chronic disease or be on any long-term medication, will give blood samples and answer questions about their health.

Scientists hope to find genes that cancel out other genes that make them susceptible to heart attacks, cancer and other diseases.

“Now that we can sequence important genes we expect to unlock many of the secrets that are the basis for the protection,” said Dr. Eric Topol, a renowned cardiologist who is leading the study. “It really is an incredible opportunity to unlock nature’s secret.”

Topol, who led a team that discovered a gene that causes heart attacks, said he became interested in this field of research after spending the past year at Case Western Reserve University with Joseph Nadeau, chairman of the department of genetics. They wrote a paper on the genetics of health, he said.

“If you could understand what controls this aging process, there is no more fruitful research than that,” Topol said.

Nadeau will collaborate with him after the data is gathered, he said. He said interest in volunteering has been high and includes a 97-year-old participant.

“I think that studying healthy elders is probably a good way to unlock some of the keys to a healthy old age,” said Dr. James Campbell, chairman of family medicine and director of geriatric health at Cleveland’s MetroHealth Medical Center. “Do I think they will find a unifying gene or protective gene or some simple answer? No.”

He said aging is a complex blend of nature, nurture, lifestyle issues and what’s inherited.

“How long a human being lives really hasn’t changed,” he said. “But the percentage who make it to that end and who makes it to that end healthy has changed.”

To participate in the Scripps Health study, call 1-800-SCRIPPS on weekdays.