Experts in biology and biophysics fed an artificial intelligence system vast amounts of DNA and medical data, on hundreds of thousands of volunteers in the UK and US.

This allowed them to develop an AI-driven iPhone app that, with simple input from a user, can accurately estimate the rate of biological ageing and maximum lifespan. 

As part of the big data study, they found there were two key parameters responsible for human lifespan, both covering lifestyle factors and how our body responds. 

The first factor is our biological age, linked to stress, lifestyle and disease, and the second is resilience, reflecting how quickly the first factor returns to normal.

This allowed the team to determine that the longest any human is likely to ever live is 150 years, almost double the current UK average lifespan of 81 years.   

The discovery is based on blood samples from two different longitudinal DNA studies, analysed by the team from Gero, a Singapore-based biotech company and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York. 

Researchers made use of an instrument, called DOSI (dynamic organism state indicator), that takes into account age, illness and lifestyle factors, to work out how resilient our body is, including its ability to recover from injury or disease.