Advancing Translation of Molecular Signatures of Biological Aging
This pilot study uses data from the mid-life (age 45) cohort of the Dunedin Health and Development Study to conduct assays on blood samples to develop a database of seven biological aging measures. The study tests physical functioning, cognitive decline and subjective signs of aging at midlife. The pilot also looks at how the pace of aging varies in the population and how it begins earlier in the lifespan than typically assumed. Now in middle age, the Dunedin sample already demonstrates significant heterogeneity in physiological aging. This study is the first to link the Dunedin longitudinal data with whole-genome data on DNA methylation and RNA expression, telomeres and other non-genomic biomarkers.
PI: Daniel Belsky