A method for predicting a person's life cycle based on DNA methylation markers.

From ancient times to the present, from home to foreign countries, from alchemy to modern science, long-lived seems to have been the pursuit of human pleasure.
But to slow down aging, you first need to figure out what causes it.
, UCLA biostatistician Steve Horvath has discovered a way to predict a person's life cycle: comparing a person's body with his actual age based on 300 to 500 DNA methylation markers, and then observing whether it is aging unusually fast or slowly, and infers his life time.
genetically ageing code, which Horvath's team began decades ago, collecting DNA from blood samples from more than 13,000 people in the U.S. and Europe.
, the researchers then measured each person's aging rate using a variety of molecular biology methods, including the epigenetic clock method developed by Horvath in 2013.
epigenetic clock is a biomarker that predicts aging according to changes in DNA methylation modification of human tissue or body fluids.
this method can calculate the aging of blood and other tissues by tracking changes in DNA methylation.
after comparing the actual age with the biological age of blood, the researchers say the method can predict each person's life expectancy.
two years ago, researchers from the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, England, and the European Institute of Bioinformatics also identified an epigenetic clock for mice.
researchers predicted the age of mice based on changes in methylation at 329 sites in the mouse genome, with an accuracy of 3.3 weeks.
based on this accuracy, considering that the average human life span is 85 years, while the average life expectancy of mice is three years.
can be seen that the mice's epigenetic clock accuracy is better than 5%.
published in Genomic Biology in 2017.
"Mouse epigenetic aging clock is exciting because it may represent the basic characteristics of mammalian aging."
if the human epigenetic aging clock can be identified, it will be a major breakthrough in the field of aging. Cui Hengxuan, director and professor of the Institute of Epigenetics and Epigenomics at Yangzhou University,
, explained in an interview with China Science Daily.
but Cui Heng-yin stressed: "According to the above results, the use of epigenetic clock seisofa clock to predict aging and longevity is possible, but now the time is not yet ripe, need further research."
"Epigenetics and Aging" To understand the direct relationship between epigenetics and aging, we must first understand the concept of epigenetics.
it was first proposed by biologist Waddington in The Introduction to Modern Genetics.
1996, American scientists James G Herman and Stephen B Baylin invented methylation-specific detection technology (MSP), which found that cpG, a cancer-suppressing gene promoter region in tumor cells, is highly methylated.
this has led scientists to realize the importance of epigenetic information such as DNA methylation in human health.
in general, epigenetics refers to inheritable changes in gene expression without changing the sequence of gene nucleotides.
the characteristics or characteristics of an organism or cell are the result of the interaction of a particular genotype with the environment, altering the activity of the gene even without altering the DNA sequence itself. The main function of
epigenetics is to regulate the spatial and temporal expression of genes by DNA methylation, histone modification, etc. there are many phenomena of epigenetic
, such as genomic imprinting, maternal effect, X chromosome inactivation, etc.
"epigenetics is actually a bit like a small round pit in a glass ball checker, where the chessboard restricts the movement of the pieces and secures their position. Zhu Bing
, a researcher at the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, gave a vivid example to a reporter at the China Science Daily.
the existence of epigenetic systems allows multicellular organisms to differentiate cells, resulting in hundreds of different types of cells with the same genome;
so, talent can become a "qualified multicellular organism."
Horvath's epigenetic clock is an algorithm about the state of DNA methylation that can accurately estimate age, based not only on the cell itself, but also on the environment in which it grows.
for example, white blood cells may have a survival cycle of only a few days or weeks, but they carry the life characteristics of the donor.
, in addition to white blood cells, DNA extracted from the brain, colon and many other organs also contains the body's life characteristics.
this method of life-longness has a margin of error of only 3.6 years.
, the accuracy would be higher if the donor gave a specific tissue, such as giving a saliva sample individually, with a margin of error reduced to 2.7 years, and giving a specific white blood cell, with a margin of error that could be controlled within 1.9 years.
on the study, Zhu Bing is conservative: "This study is also a bit like shooting an arrow out first, and then drawing a bull's-eye in the position of the arrow shot, more research has yet to be completed."
" he believes that while experiments have shown a possible correlation between epigenetics and aging, they do not prove causality.
it takes time to study aging, because aging as a complex life process, many factors participate in regulation and play an important role, including genetic factors, epigenetic factors and environmental factors.
more importantly, current studies are mostly in animal experiments, but it is debatable whether the aging mechanism of one species is the same as that of another.
With the development of epigenetics, the relationship between epigenetics and aging has become one of the important contents of epigenetics research.
Said.
is now generally agreed that epigenetic factors may play a much larger role than thought, in addition to the important role they play in aging.
epigenetic changes can lead to changes in gene expression and can be passed on to the next generation.
environmental factors can also affect aging.
this includes nutritional deficiencies, smoking, drinking, etc.
existing research has shown that these environmental factors can influence aging by influencing epigenetics, and genetic factors can also affect aging by influencing epigenetics.
at present, Cui Heng-hui's research also involves aging. "We are studying the epigenetic mechanisms of stem cells for anti-aging and aging, "
.
mainly studies the maintenance and differentiation of human protoplasm stem cells, and reveals the molecular mechanisms of anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, regulatory immunity, etc. of interstitial stem cells. In addition, epigenetics of tumors have been studied
.
mainly to crack the molecular mechanism of epigenetics of tumor occurrence and development, and try to find molecular markers that can be used for early diagnosis of tumors.
" Cui Heng-yin believes that with the deepening of relevant research, the discipline will continue to improve.
Source: China Science Network.