Inbreeding == Good...what?

A new study has come out that indicates that inbred people live long lives, even longer than non-cousin diddlers. The researchers have found a town that has a very high rate of incest.

Passarino and his colleagues used census data to identify a geographically isolated region of southern Italy with more than its fair share of male nonagerians. When the team looked at the local phone book, they found many people in the region shared the same surname, suggesting marriage between related individuals was common...

So, because there was so much inbreeding in this town, the few inbred folks that didn't get serious diseases lived to be very old indeed. Good news for inbred kids, I guess you don't see that every day.

Found at New Scientist. Warning: New Scientist registration required.