Using the next-generation CheekAge clock, scientists can now accurately predict mortality by analyzing cheek cells, offering new insights into aging and health risk assessment. This breakthrough could reshape the future of personalized health monitoring. Study: CheekAge, a next-generation epigenetic buccal clock, is predictive of mortality in human blood.
Image Credit: Shutterstock AI Generator / Shutterstock.com In a recent study published in Frontiers in Aging , researchers utilize CheekAge, a next-generation epigenetic clock, to predict mortality risk. About epigenetic clocks An epigenetic aging clock is a machine-learning model that predicts chronological age based on DNA methylation.
DNA methylation primarily occurs on dinucleotides formed by cytosines followed by guanine residues (CpG). Epigenetic clocks can be trained to determine chronological age or predict health outcomes at the population level. First-generation clocks are often used in forensic investigations, as they have been trained to predict chronological age.
Comparatively, next-generation clocks utilize methylation data to provide important insights into health and lifestyle outcomes. However, these models require blood samples, which limits their utility for home use or in older adults. What is CheekAge? CheekAge was trained on the Infinium MethylationEPIC buccal dataset, which comprises over 200,000 DNA methylation sites from more than 8,000 adult buccal cell samples.
CheekAge was developed to estimate ep.