What would you do if you could predict how long you had left to live? Well, a new test might soon allow you to do just that. The test is based on new research on biological aging and markers that could help scientists determine your biological age just by swabbing the inside of your cheek. The findings, published in Frontiers in Aging, tell an interesting story about cheek age and how scientists can tell the body’s biological age just by examining its cells. I am presenting it.
The study is largely based on CheekAge, a next-generation tool designed to determine the body’s position on a new epigenetic clock developed earlier this year. This clock essentially aims to observe changes in our body’s genes and how they are read and expressed over time. It is built on the idea that different parts of our bodies provide different biological markers.
To test CheekAge’s reliability and ability to predict life expectancy, researchers collected blood samples from more than 1,500 applications from ages 67 to 90. They then applied those samples to the CheekAge algorithm. Although CheekAge had less than half of the DNA markers it was designed to test, it was still able to show a strong ability to predict mortality risk, the researchers said.
A scientist in a lab collects a DNA sample for testing. Image source: ronstik/Adobe
More specifically, the tool was able to determine the difference between a person’s actual age and CheekAge. The results showed that the group with the oldest biological age had a mortality rate of about 7.8 years earlier than the group with the youngest biological age markers, reaching a mortality rate of about 50 percent. Additionally, CheekAge proved to be better at predicting sample donor mortality than other, more established epigenetic clocks currently in existence.
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The fact that CheekAge was able to do its job even when blood was taken instead of cheek cells is impressive. But we still have a long way to go before we can fully predict how long we’ll live, especially in a way that scientists can actually use. But improved tools could at least give doctors new options for determining important things like biological age and mortality rates. And because the method is very non-invasive, requiring only a swab of the cheek, it could be more affordable and easier to get people to buy-in.
Scientists have long sought to understand the biological clocks of animals and humans. In fact, studies have shown that axolotls may even be able to stop our body clocks, a fact that has garnered considerable research and interest from scientists trying to reverse aging in humans. There is.
