Imagine receiving a test result that tells you your body is biologically five years older than you are Chronological age. You exercise regularly, sleep well, eat healthy, and have a happy personal life. What are you doing wrong? Can this test be trusted?
Dozens of companies are marketing products that promise to reveal a person’s “truth.” Biological age – that is, how well your body is working – for a price of about US$30 to $1,000. Based on this product The epigenetic aging clockwhich are research tools that estimate a person’s age based on their DNA. These watches are reshaping how scientists study aging and how the public thinks about it
But while epigenetic clocks are extremely useful research tools for studying aging at the population level, they are not designed to make claims about the health of individuals.
we are Biobehavioral health Scientists who Study how early developmental and environmental factors shape biological aging across the lifespan, influencing health and disease decades later. As researchers who use epigenetic clocks in our work, we have found them to be a very informative tool when studying large numbers of people. But this watch can deliver Faulty results at the individual levelAnd they don’t meet the standards required for general medical examinations.
What is the epigenetic clock?
Measuring reversible chemical changes in DNA, known as Epigenetic marksIt can provide information about how your body is aging.
Using DNA obtained from regular blood draws, researchers can measure millions of these epigenetic marks in an individual. Running statistical algorithms on this data can produce a single value that represents the person’s epigenetic age, analogous to chronological age.
Epigenetic clocks work because chemical marks on DNA can act change over time and is influenced by lifestyle, stress and environment. These changes capture aspects of aging that chronological age alone may not reflect.
Thus, the epigenetic clock helps scientists identify experiences, exposures, and behaviors that can accelerate or slow down biological aging.
Not for personal health decisions
Why can’t epigenetic clocks provide reliable results about biological age for individual people?
First, there are dozens Different types of epigenetic clocksEach is designed for a specific purpose. Some are used to predict a person’s age, while others are used to predict how quickly someone will age or how long they will die. These different watches do not always agree with each other, even when used on the same person.
second, Epigenetic changes are dynamicDiet, environmental exposures, illness, time of day, and other transient factors make age prediction sensitive to short-term fluctuations. As a result, the estimated age can vary significantly depending on when someone is tested.
Third, generating epigenetic clocks is technically challenging, and there is no established gold-standard method for generating clocks across the laboratory. For example, examining epigenetic age Saliva versus blood samples Can give quite different results for the same person. Technologies used to measure epigenetic marks have also evolved over time and will likely continue to improve. As these methods change, the original algorithms designed for specific measurement platforms may not work the same way.
Fourth, scientists do not universally agree What does old age mean?Partly because it’s a very complicated process. Reducing that complexity to a single number, such as an epigenetic age, can be misleading.
Finally, epigenetic clocks are affected by an individual’s history of trauma, discrimination, and early life adversity. This makes their use at the individual level potentially problematic. On average, marginalized communities tend to show up Signs of rapid aging When assessed with the epigenetic clock. If insurance companies start using epigenetic age estimates to set premiums, many people could face higher costs for biological differences shaped by circumstances beyond their control, potentially deepening existing health disparities.
Study how aging unfolds over time
Although epigenetic clocks are not suitable tools for individual health decisions, this does not mean that they do not have value.
Researchers used the epigenetic clock to discover Lifestyle habits That, on average, can slow down aging. Some examples are included Decreased daily calorie intake, Exercise regularly, Maintain a healthy dietGet enough sleep and avoid smoking.
Epigenetic clocks can also help test new drug therapies aimed at slowing certain aging processes. For example, researchers have shown that Rapamycin, a drug Associated with various aging processes, can reduce Epigenetic aging of human skin cells. There is some evidence that there may be a treatment designed to regenerate the thymus Slow or even reverse epigenetic aging One year after treatment. However, researchers have seen these effects when looking at groups rather than individuals.
Epigenetic clocks are helping scientists advance scientific research on the aging process, but they are not medical tests to measure personal health. In the future, epigenetic measurements may play a useful role for personal health decisions. But for now, epigenetic clocks sold as biological age tests are best used and refined by researchers who are studying populations rather than individual individuals.
If ShalevAssociate Professor of Biobehavioral Health, Penn State And Abner ApsleyPostdoctoral Researcher in Molecular Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Reprinted from this article the conversation Under Creative Commons license. read on Main article.
