More Work on Epigenetic Age Determination
A number of different research teams have recently demonstrated epigenetic markers that can be used to establish chronological age or predict life expectancy to various degrees. Here is another: "Aging has been associated with accumulation of cellular defects such as DNA damage and telomere shortening. On the other hand, there is accumulating evidence that aging rather resembles a developmentally regulated process which is tightly controlled by specific epigenetic modifications. ... All tissues of the organism are affected by aging. This process is associated with epigenetic modifications such as methylation changes at specific cytosine residues in the DNA (CpG sites). Here, we have identified an Epigenetic-Aging-Signature which is applicable for many tissues to predict donor age. ... This Epigenetic-Aging-Signature was tested on a validation group of eight independent datasets corresponding to several cell types from different tissues. ... The average absolute difference between predicted and real chronological age was about 11 years. ... It has to be noted, that chronological age is not identical with biological age and it is conceivable that some of the discrepancy between predicted and real age can be attributed to this difference - further research might facilitate determination of the biological age for personalized medicine."