Interest in cosmetics, supplements and diet plans designed to halt the inevitable passage of time has arguably never been greater – but if you want to try to slow down the aging process, it’s useful to know where you’re starting from. There’s a tool that’s designed to help you do just that, by giving you a measurement of how quickly your body is aging relative to your chronological age. It’s made headlines after it was recently featured on The Kardashians – but does it really work?

Biological age: What does the tool measure?

The DunedinPACE tool is an algorithm developed by an international team of scientists as part of the Dunedin Study, a longitudinal study of human health and development using a cohort of people born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in the early 1970s.

How people age and whether the biological age of their body systems advances faster than their chronological age is a question that researchers are very interested in. “People who age faster than their peers may need more support in their lives to ensure they remain healthy as they age,” said Dunedin study leader Professor Moana Theodore in a statement.

But somehow you have to identify these people.

Previous research has shown that DNA methylation is a useful marker for biological aging. It is an epigenetic marker, meaning it changes the way a gene is expressed in a cell without actually changing the basic DNA sequence. Methylation involves adding methyl groups, which consist of one carbon atom and three hydrogen atoms, to DNA, which has the effect of repressing its expression.

Methylation changes form the basis of the so-called “epigenetic clock,” which is considered “one of the most accurate measures of biological age,” according to a 2022 study. A 2020 review on the topic states: “It is currently widely accepted that DNA methylation biomarkers can determine the biological age of any tissue across the human lifespan, even during development.”

One age-related disease in which methylation may play a key role is cancer. Over time, genes that play a tumor-suppressing role can become methylated and consequently silenced, increasing the risk of cancer developing. Another example is neurodegenerative diseases, where some research shows a link between epigenetic changes – including methylation – and the pathology of diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

While there is debate about whether aging is primarily a biological or psychological phenomenon – and the debate will no doubt continue – there is no denying that the passing of years causes all sorts of changes in our bodies and that these are of scientific importance. To get the best idea of ​​how aging can affect a person’s health, it is useful to compare biological age versus chronological age.

How does the tool work?

The team behind DunedinPace used this established science on DNA methylation as a basis for creating an algorithm that, as they said in their paper, “represents a novel measure of aging that is conceptually and empirically distinct from DNA methylation clocks” and is more advanced than previous metrics they have developed.

As admirably demonstrated by members of the Kardashian family on their show, all someone who wants to use the tool needs to do is provide a simple blood sample – in fact, the test is already available to the public in New Zealand, online and in some pharmacies.

The blood samples are analyzed by Kentucky-based TruDiagnostic, and the result, according to the team, is a bit like a speedometer reading. Assuming that, on average, a person’s biological age increases by one year for every year of chronological aging, the tool can tell you whether you’re aging faster or slower.

Kim Kardashian’s score was 0.82, meaning she is aging 18 percent slower than most people her age. Khloe Kardashian’s score was an even more impressive 0.72, meaning she is aging 28 percent slower than average.

“Our internationally recognised science on ageing, including the DunedinPACE algorithm, is being used in studies around the world to investigate the causes of premature ageing and whether it is associated with poorer health in later life,” said Professor Theodore.

“However, we never imagined it would reach the Kardashians, who we view as leading global influencers and highly successful business people.”

So… does it work?

We have found that biological aging is a real and important factor in determining a person’s risk for age-related health complications. When the researchers first published DunedinPACE, the publisher commented that their tool “shows improved performance” compared to an algorithm they had previously developed and that it “can be used to complement previously generated DNA methylation-based biomarkers.”

DunedinPace is not designed to spit out a number indicating how many “biological years” someone is (although there are other tests that supposedly can, some of which are discussed in the episode of The Kardashians). It could alert the user that they may be aging prematurely compared to the average person, and prompt them to consider lifestyle factors that could help them extend their “health span” – the goal is not to live longer, but to live in good health for as long as possible.

“Our ageing measurement tool actually measures ageing of the whole body,” Professor Theodore told the Otago Daily Times. “It’s a reading that takes into account a number of body systems – your teeth, your lungs, your cardiovascular system. So it’s not just about how you look, it’s also about what’s happening inside you.”

Professor Theodore argues that too much emphasis is currently placed on chronological age without also considering biological age. Tests such as this provide another piece of the puzzle and allow us to look beneath the surface to see how our bodies respond to the passage of time.

The original 2022 DunedinPACE study was published in eLife.