American Alchemy with Jesse Michels The “Clock” That Can Predict Death | Dr. Steve Horvath
Oct 5, 2024
Dr. Steve Horvath is a renowned aging researcher and geneticist at UCLA, famous for his epigenetic aging clocks. In this conversation, he unpacks the concept of epigenetic clocks and their role in predicting mortality, emphasizing the impressive accuracy of his GrimAge model. Horvath also reveals groundbreaking advances like the Universal Mammalian Clock and discusses how young plasma studies show potential for significant rejuvenation. He highlights the modest impact of lifestyle changes on epigenetic age and the need for more biomarker-based clinical trials.
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Methylation Predicts Biological Age
- Epigenetic clocks use DNA methylation patterns to estimate biological age across tissues.
- Steve Horvath's pan-tissue clock and later GrimAge link methylation to aging and mortality risk.
Clocks As Clinical Trial Surrogates
- Epigenetic clocks enable short-term surrogate endpoints for longevity trials.
- That makes testing anti-aging interventions feasible without waiting decades for mortality outcomes.
A Universal, Constant Clock Tick
- Methylation changes progress at a remarkably constant rate after development, across mammals.
- The cause remains unknown, prompting questions about whether methylation drives aging or simply correlates with it.