Epigenetic age
DEEpigenetisches Alter
Your epigenetic age estimates how old your body seems biologically, read from chemical tags on your DNA. Certain spots on the genome (CpG sites) gain or lose methyl groups over time. Algorithms called epigenetic clocks turn that pattern into an age. The well-known ones include Horvath, Hannum, PhenoAge, GrimAge, and DunedinPACE. When your epigenetic age runs ahead of your real age, that gap is called epigenetic age acceleration. It is linked to a higher risk of death, heart disease, and cancer in studies. How much it means depends on the clock. First-generation clocks mostly track your calendar age. Clocks trained on mortality predict health outcomes better. Consumer tests you can buy vary a lot in reliability.
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Sources
- Horvath S. (2013). DNA methylation age of human tissues and cell types. *Genome Biology*doi:10.1186/gb-2013-14-10-r115
- Quach A, Levine ME, Tanaka T, Lu AT, Chen BH, Ferrucci L, et al.. (2017). Epigenetic clock analysis of diet, exercise, education, and lifestyle factors. *Aging*doi:10.18632/aging.101168