![]() ![]() “In the late eighties and early nineties, basic scientists like Professors Cynthia Kenyon and Tom Johnson showed that mutations in single genes were sufficient to extend the lifespan of laboratory animals, suggesting that targeting a small number of components in an individual could produce huge longevity benefits.” Nicholas Stroustrup, g roup leader at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona. “This paradigm shift builds on 25 years of fundamental research into the basic biology of aging,” says Dr. More recently, aging is being recognized as a disease in itself, rather than a symptom of being alive, a paradigm shift that makes this area of research all the more interesting. This is the ultimate goal of “longevity research”. In principle, understanding the molecular underpinnings of biological aging could help us to manipulate it, either via making conscious lifestyle changes or by pharmacological means, extending human lifespan and preventing diseases associated with aging. Outside of epigenetics, the most cited biomarkers in the literature are telomere length, amount of DNA-damage and mitochondrial dysfunction.Ī dynamic shift in how we think about aging Steve Horvath, created the first “clock” of biological aging, called DNAm PhenoAge. In 2018, a University of California Los Angeles professor, Dr. Ĭonsequently, epigenetic changes are the most common biomarker adopted for calculating biological age. The most studied epigenetic change is DNA methylation, where a chemical group is added to a specific location on DNA, blocking the proteins that are required to read the DNA and transcribe it to mRNA. Epigenome changes, however, affect whether a gene is “turned on” or “turned off”. DNA changes, such as mutations, impact which protein is produced from a DNA sequence. ![]() However, some milestones have been reached in our pursuit, namely an increased appreciation of how epigenetics contributes to our phenotype, including the health of our cells.Įpigenetics – epi meaning “on” or “above” in Greek – refers to the chemical modifications that are made to DNA to control the activity of a specific gene. Despite major advances in aging research over recent decades, such comprehensive understanding remains to be achieved. While chronological age increases at exactly same rate for everyone, the biological aging rate differs from one person to the next, and can be influenced by health and lifestyle factors.Ĭalculating biological age relies on a comprehensive understanding of the aging process at the molecular level and finding valid ways to measure it. The truth is that our cells, and the complex molecular processes that occur within them, are completely oblivious to the passing of time measured in this way.Įnter “biological age”, which centers around how fast our cells deteriorate and the damage they incur as a measure of aging. Which of the two categories you fall into might depend on your perspective of what “age” means.įor centuries, chronological age – the amount of time that has lapsed since the day you were born – was used to define how old an individual is. For others, the idea of being another year older can spark fear or anguish we’re only here for a short time, and another birthday forces us to confront this reality. For some, it’s a celebration of yet another year on the planet – an opportunity to reflect on achievements or memories made. Birthdays can be met with mixed feelings. ![]()
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