![]() ![]() Your genome (the ingredients) always stay the same, but the epigenome (the recipes) changes over a lifespan. ![]() If your body needs to create new fingernail cells, it’ll look at the section of your DNA for fingernails and read only that part and use a specific set of ingredients to begin production of new fingernails. “You might not use all the ingredients, and the instructions will determine which you’ll use and those you won’t.” “Your genes are all the ingredients and epigenetics is the cookbook,” she says. To simplify, Levine makes the analogy of a kitchen pantry stocked with ingredients and a cookbook. DNA methylation is one type of mark, and it can be identified and tracked as a sign of aging in different parts of the genome. These marks do not change the sequence of the DNA, but they do change the way cells read the DNA's instructions. When epigenetic compounds attach to DNA, they are said to have "marked" the genome. They tell the DNA what to do - turn on and off, make this protein or that. Your epigenome is made up of chemical compounds and proteins that can attach to your DNA. Your genome is your complete DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), which holds the instructions for building the proteins that carry out a variety of functions in a cell. The Epigenome’s Connection to Biological Age After knowing your biological age, you can choose to adapt lifestyle changes that may improve your overall health. So as we pass the days and months and years, our cells either progress more or less rapidly than what is expected from our chronological age. Life’s not predictable enough for us all to see a 1:1 match in chronological age and biological age. Your biological age reflects a combination of your genetics, accumulated lifestyle factors, and other determinants such as demographics, diet, and exercise habits. Cumulative rate of aging is your biological age relative to your chronological age - a measure of the pace at which your body has aged for every year you’ve been alive. “Knowing your biological age is an effective way of determining your cumulative rate of aging,” says Morgan Levine, Ph.D., assistant professor of Pathology at the Yale School of Medicine and Elysium’s Bioinformatics Advisor. Biological age is a measurement of your age based on various biomarkers - a number that can change due to lifestyle and other health factors. With only some regard for your chronological age, your tissues, organs and blood reflect your “phenotypic age,” more commonly known as your biological age. Your cells, rudely enough, do not celebrate your birthday. On your birthday, people could shout, “Happy Chronological Age Day!” - although it doesn’t work so well with cake and candles. A quick entry in a Pearson Chronological Age calculator and you can figure out your chronological age to the day. The other, which you may not be aware of, is tracking the way your cells have changed as you’ve been alive - your biological age. Surprise! The one you know already is that number tracking the times you’ve traveled around the sun or the one on your driver’s license - your chronological age. If you haven’t yet heard, you have two ages. How fast have you been aging? Let us explain. ![]()
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