Researchers in China have developed a new way to assess the biological age of an organism. Unlike existing methods based on DNA analysis, the new technology studies gene activity and allows for more accurate tracking of aging processes, as well as assessing health and longevity-related risks.
The age on a passport may change only once a year, but a cell can age faster or slower. Scientists in China have created a new type of sensitive molecular 'clock' that determines biological aging not by DNA markers, but by gene activity. The work was published on May 27 in the journal Nature.
The team, led by aging researcher Vadim Gladyshev from Harvard Medical School, analyzed more than 11,000 transcriptomes – data on which genes are 'turned on' and currently actively working. The sample included over 25 tissues from four species of mammals: mice, rats, crab-eating macaques, and humans.
Such clocks can predict chronological age, biological aging, and expected mortality. "In humans, the model also measured time to death from any cause among participants in major heart health studies," Nature writes.
Why is this important? Currently, some of the most well-known scientists are conducting epigenetic studies – they observe chemical markers on DNA, such as methylation. However, these are difficult to interpret: they correlate well with age and mortality, but it is not always clear what specific biological processes underlie this.
Researchers in China developed molecular 'clocks' based on gene activity. They can assess biological aging in mice, rats, macaques, and humans, as well as predict the risk of death.
The new 'clocks' look at gene activity. This may be more useful for scientists: if the activity of specific genes changes with age, it is easier to induce processes that manifest with aging, diseases, or longevity.
The authors found common signs of aging in different tissues and species. Among these universal signals are charge, interferon response, mitochondrial function, changes in chromatin, and extracellular matrix. Researchers also highlighted the genes CDKN1A and LGALS3: their protein levels were associated with mortality and various diseases in UK Biobank data.
For now, this is not a 'know your time of death' test. The method is not ready for medical application and is not intended for individual predictions in the clinic. However, it could accelerate aging research: for example, helping to quickly understand whether to consider medications, diet, or other factors of biological age in the body.
"Even if you conduct an experiment on mice, testing the lifespan of mice takes a very long time. If you had something, some resource that would quickly determine whether your treatment would be effective or not, that would be very useful," said biologist João Pedro de Magalhães from the University of Birmingham.
The authors of the study emphasize that the new system is not yet intended for medical diagnostics and cannot predict the date of death of a specific person. However, such molecular 'clocks' can significantly accelerate the study of aging and help scientists more quickly assess the effectiveness of drugs, diets, and other methods aimed at prolonging healthy life.
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