Swiss researchers help develop ‘gene clock’

New "gene clocks" measure biological age in real time Keystone-SDA

An international research team with Swiss participation has developed new "gene clocks" that accurately measure biological age and remaining lifespan in real time.

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Scientists analysed over 11,000 tissue samples from mice, rats, macaques and humans, according to a report in the journal Nature.

They found that the molecular ageing processes in the so-called transcriptome – all gene transcripts that exist in a cell at a specific point in time – are almost identical across species and cell boundaries.

According to the study, with advancing age, the body switches on genes that are associated with inflammation, cell ageing and programmed cell death. In turn, the activity of genes that are important for wound healing, cell differentiation and tissue regeneration decreases.

Based on this data, the authors developed their molecular clocks for various tissues and species. To test their significance for humans, the researchers used data from over 50,000 participants in the UK Biobank.

New possibilities

In terms of predicting the time of death, the new transcriptome clocks are in the same league as the highly developed second-generation epigenetic clocks that are already being used in ageing research, according to the researchers.

However, the decisive advantage of transcriptome clocks lies in their high dynamics. While established epigenetic clocks measure chemical deposits in the genome, which tend to change in a long-term and rigid manner, transcriptome clocks flexibly reflect the current functional states of the cells.

Until now, however, such transcriptomic approaches have been much less precise.

Life-prolonging measures

According to researchers, the dynamic gene transcripts allow the effectiveness of life-prolonging measures, such as diets or medication, to be assessed much more quickly at a molecular level.

However, further research is needed to clarify exactly how these biomarkers are linked to ageing and whether they are causal or merely by-products of the process.

Adrian Molière from ETH Zurich was involved in the study from Switzerland, which was led by Vadim Gladyshev from Harvard Medical School in the United States.

Adapted from German by AI/mga

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