A study that could provide us with a better understanding of cancer and stem cell research uncovers a biological clock in our genomes that affects how our bodies age. And a surprising finding reveals that the tissue in women's breasts is biologically older than the rest of the body.
The study was carried out by Steve Horvath, professor of human genetics and biostatistics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His findings were published in the journal Genome Biology.
"To fight aging, we first need an objective way of measuring it," Prof. Horvath explains. "Pinpointing a set of biomarkers that keeps time throughout the body has been a 4-year challenge."
He says he focused on methylation - a process that chemically alters DNA - in order to create a clock to measure aging. His research is the first to classify an internal measure of time that correctly identifies the age of human organs, tissues and cell types.
"My goal in inventing this clock is to help scientists improve their understanding of what speeds up and slows down the human aging process," he adds.
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