The Horvath Aging Biomarker Collection

Biological age refers to your age on a biological level compared to your chronological age or how many birthdays have passed for you. 

Biological age tests look at changes in your biology that are indicative of biological aging. In our case, our biological age test uses what is called an epigenetic clock to calculate your biological age.  

Fortunately, your biological age is modifiable, meaning you can change it. Tracking your biological age can help you see changes over time and understand the impact diet, lifestyles changes, and anti-aging treatments are having on your rate of aging.

After ordering, you’ll receive different instructions depending on which test you’ve obtained, or which program you’ve entered.  In each case by email we’ll detail how the test works and the steps ahead necessary for collection.

For everyone obtaining testing, this initial email will include:

1. A link to an online survey to register your test kit and to complete a brief intake questionnaire;
2. For the PhenoAge test in the U.S., a form that enables you to obtain your blood draw, along with instructions on how to schedule an appointment; and
3. For the GrimAge epigenetic age test, instructions on how to collect and return your at-home blood collection kit.

You will receive your initial test report and results as soon as each of the above steps have been completed.  For the PhenoAge blood test, this is typically within 1-2 weeks after your blood draw.  For the Grimage epigenetic clock test, the typical turnaround time is 3-4 weeks after return of your sample. 

Once you receive your initial results, you’ll also be able to book a 1-on-1 consultation with our team to discuss.

Each month you’ll also receive separate notifications about our community events, where we discuss new treatments and longevity strategies.

Epigenetics is the study of how genes are turned off and on during an animal’s lifetime, including humans. 

A Greek word meaning “above genetics”, epigenetics is the study of changes in gene function that occur without detectable changes to DNA sequence. What this means is that your gene expression (like what proteins your cells produce) changes but your gene sequences themselves do not change. 

Epigenetics most often involves changes that affect gene activity and expression. These epigenetic changes can occur due to normal biological development but they can also result from external or environmental factors like food choices, stress levels or even injury.

A genetic or DNA test looks at what your DNA contains whereas an epigenetic age test measures various epigenetic changes on our DNA itself. Unlike DNA, your epigenetics are modifiable.

Many cells in the body have an “epigenetic clock” that keeps track of how quickly they are aging or, more accurately, how much damage has been done since they were created.

Our test provides your biological age as well as various key drivers of your aging.

DNA methylation is a process where methyl groups are added to DNA to influence gene expression, and which are critical for normal human development, defining cell identity, as well as for rejuvenation and reprogramming.  Highly accurate estimators of chronological age have been developed are known as epigenetic aging clocks, which can predict chronological age through development and across the lifespan (Horvath 2013, Horvath & Raj 2018). 

Increasingly these clocks are also being used as a measure of biological age as certain measures – most notably GrimAge (Lu 2019, Li 2020), which is able to predict future morbidity and mortality risk.  GrimAge also performs well for predicting functional decline and onset of major age-related diseases, including heart disease, cancer onset, multi-modal measures of brain health, kidney disease, fatty liver, respiratory function, and more (Lu 2019, Hillary 2018, Hillary 2020, McCrory 2020). These peer reviewed and independent studies have also shown that it performs reliably across large diverse populations.  

Many researchers conclude today that overall epigenetic clocks now represent the most robust measure of biological age (Li 2020, Jylhava et al 2017, Justice & Kritchevsky 2020).

We currently ship to the United States, UK and Europe and serviced by labs in Los Angeles, USA, and Manchester, UK.

Please contact us if you are located elsewhere and are still interested in purchasing a test or participating in an anti-aging trial.