“Black don’t crack” is not just be a cute, anecdotal expression. According to studies, it’s backed up by science.

“A study revealed that one-fifth of black Americans carry a ‘Methuselah gene’ that causes them to look up to 10 years younger than their age,” the Twitter account Fact tweeted, citing a study by Stanford University.

A study revealed that one-fifth of black Americans carry a "Methuselah gene" that causes them to look up to 10 years younger than their age.

— Fact (@Fact) November 8, 2022

However, the study wasn’t attached. Therefore, Moguldom did some research to determine if it was a fact that 20 percent of Black Americans carry the “Methuselah gene,” which makes them look 10 years younger.

It turns out there is such a gene that occurs much more in Black Americans than other races that is officially known as the FOX03 gene.

“There are the Methuselah genes, which are associated with longevity and appear in women ‘who have not undergone cosmetic procedures but still appear to be ‘ageless,’ according to the 2015 findings of a Multi-Decade and Ethnicity study at Harvard Medical School,” an article in AARP states.

While the study hasn’t been published publicly in its entirety yet, researchers, scientists and medical professionals have corroborated the findings.

“Many of us felt that people with darker skin aged better because of more pigment and better photo [sunlight] protection, but we have found there is much more to it than that,” researcher and Harvard dermatology professor Alexa Kimball told Daily Mail. “They have other characteristics in their skin which confer good aging, which until now we had no idea about.”

“What’s exciting about these findings is that the genes that make up the unique skin fingerprint of ‘exceptional skin agers’ may hold the key to successful aging,” Dr. Rosemarie Osborne, a beauty research fellow for Procter & Gamble added.

So the next time someone says ‘Black don’t crack,” know it’s because science says so.