Researchers have currently identified telomere, metabolome, and clinical aging clocks using various biomarkers. Among them, the most reliable are considered to be epigenetic clocks, known as the "DunedinPACE" model.
Medianews.az citing Oxu.Az reports that Dmitri Kryukov, head of the biomarker research group at AIRI Institute's "Artificial Intelligence in Medicine" laboratory and also a junior researcher at the Skoltech Center for Molecular and Cellular Biology (Russia), spoke about this to "gazeta.ru".
Aging clocks, also known as biological clocks, are tools that allow determining a person's biological age based on various biomarkers. A person's biological age can be either less than or significantly greater than the age indicated in official documents (passport age).
"For example, telomere clocks, which measure the length of protective telomeres at the ends of chromosomes that shorten with each cell division, are based on the early aging theory. Transcriptomic clocks investigate the activity of individual genes, while proteomic and metabolomic models assess the quantity of thousands of proteins and metabolites in the blood whose composition changes as the body ages. Clinical clocks hold particular practical importance. This method is based on standard biomarkers such as general blood, urine, and biochemical analyses," Kryukov said.
According to the expert, epigenetic clocks evaluate changes in DNA methylation patterns. During this process, methyl groups attach to certain parts of the DNA molecule. In this case, although the sequence of genes does not change, their activity is regulated.
"These types of clocks are currently one of the most popular methods used primarily to determine a person's passport age with high accuracy rather than biological age. As a person ages, the methylation pattern changes in a stable and predictable manner. Researchers have used machine learning technologies to analyze thousands of samples to identify key DNA segments directly associated with age. A special algorithm analyzing the state of these segments in blood or urine samples can determine an individual's age," the specialist noted.