Biomarkers reveal our biological age

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The telomeres (dyed red) form the end pieces of the chromosomes. As they age they become shorter and some chromosomes eventually lose their ends completely. As a result the cells are no longer able to divide. Image: K. Lenhard Rudolph
The telomeres (dyed red) form the end pieces of the chromosomes. As they age, they become shorter and some chromosomes eventually lose their ends completely. As a result, the cells are no longer able to divide. Image: K. Lenhard Rudolph
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Not a day passes when we don’t get a little bit older. However, the exact processes involved in human aging are still puzzling. Scientists working with Lenhard Rudolph and Hong Jiang from the Max Planck Research Group for Stem Cell Aging in Ulm have now identified a group of proteins that reveal the biological age of a person. These biomarkers could be used in medicine to adapt therapies for older people to their individual biological age (PNAS, August 12, 2008).


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