Proposing an Approach to Obtain Human Data on Combined Interventions and Effects on Aging

With the advent of epigenetic clocks that appear able to measure biological age, researchers are interested in putting these clocks to work on the assessment of interventions that might affect the pace and state of aging. It is the case, of course, that today there are all too few interventions that can reliably affect the pace and state of aging. But, arguably, the research community shouldn't let that get in the way of generating data with the interventions that do exist, such as exercise, calorie restriction, or senolytics, even though the effects on longevity in humans are either small or unknown. The most important challenge in the use of epigenetic clocks is that it remains somewhat unclear as to what exactly it is that these clocks are measuring. In other words which of the underlying mechanisms of aging contribute to the observed epigenetic changes that are characteristic of aging, and the relative size of their contributions. Some researchers, on the other hand, and as is the case here, think that epigenetic changes are an underlying cause of aging, and that puts a different spin on assessing these changes. To some extent the motivation doesn't matter in this case: gathering more data, and particularly data on combinations of interventions, may be a decent first step towards making better use of epigenetic age assessments. Josh Mitteldorf's latest initiative, The Data-BETA Project, is a bold attempt to learn how a wide range of supplements, dietary ch...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs