Tag: Epigenetics

A team of researchers has concluded that while methylation-based epigenetic clocks generally give reliable outputs when given the same inputs, short-term biological fluctuations can drastically change their results. Technical and biological reliability What Are Epigenetic ClocksAn epigenetic clock is a biochemical test that uses DNA methylation levels and accumulation of methyl groups on DNA to...

An analysis of over 3800 older adults found that shingles vaccination is associated with lower inflammation scores, slower epigenetic and transcriptomic aging, and a lower composite biological aging score [1]. Beneficial side effects Vaccines are developed to prevent specific diseases, such as polio, measles, hepatitis, and many others. However, recent data suggest that some adult...

A new study has found that professional soccer players experience a drop in their biological age after a match, as measured by biomarkers assessed with state-of-the-art methylation clocks [1]. We asked Dr. Steve Horvath, the study’s co-author, to comment. Clocks, stress, and exercise Epigenetic clocks have become extremely popular in the longevity field, both as...

Scientists have created a new, highly effective method of tracing blood cells’ lineage. This can improve our understanding of clonal hematopoiesis and its impact on an aging organism [1]. Hostile takeover In the human body, a relatively small pool of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) sustains a system that produces 100-200 billion mature blood cells each...

A new paper published in Nature Aging suggests that somatic mutations cause significant remodeling of the epigenetic landscape. The findings might be relevant to future anti-aging interventions [1]. The genome and the epigenome Genomic instability and epigenetic alterations are two of the hallmarks of aging [2]. The former occurs in somatic cells due to replication...

In a groundbreaking Nature paper, researchers have developed synthetic regulatory sequences that could prevent targeted gene therapies from having effects in unwanted cell types. More than methylation While methylation is the most well-known regulator of gene expression, it isn't the only thing that determines what is to be expressed when. Cis-regulatory elements (CREs), so called...