Manuel Collado

Research has analyzed how extreme heat influences the biological age of elderly populations, specifically in the United States. The study, published in Science Advances, used blood samples from more than 3,600 adults with an average age of 68 collected between 2010 and 2016. The team compared epigenetic aging trends with the number of days of extreme heat in the participants' places of residence. The models showed that more days of heat or long-term heat — over a period of one to six years — increased the biological age of the participants by more than two years.

An international team has analyzed data from nearly half a million people to analyze the influence of genes or environment on mortality, age-related diseases and aging. Although the relationship may vary according to the type of disease, their conclusions are that the environment -especially socioeconomic conditions, smoking habits and physical exercise- has a much greater influence than genetics in all the aspects studied. Among other data, environment explains 17 % of the variation in mortality risk, while genetics is limited to 2 %. The results are published in the journal Nature Medicine. 

A study of more than 5,000 patients has developed a method to predict the biological age of our organs. They have analysed more than 4,000 proteins present in the blood and used machine learning models adapted to 11 different organs. According to the authors, almost 20 % of the population has accelerated organ ageing, which in many cases is associated with an increased risk of mortality of between 20 and 50 %. The results are published in the journal Nature.

A study published by the company Rejuvenate Bio claims to have prolonged the life expectancy of healthy older mice, while improving other health parameters. The study used a gene therapy—introducing three genes, known as Yamanaka factors, that are particularly active in embryonic cells. According to the authors, the remaining life expectancy of the mice (whose age was equivalent to about 77 years in humans) was doubled, with a 7% increase in absolute terms. The results have been shared in a pre-print publication and have not yet been peer-reviewed.