The natural world has played a profound role in facilitating our ever-growing understanding of the world around us. Countless discoveries in the realm of science can be traced directly back to simple observations of nature. From Da Vinci’s discovery of basic aerodynamics from studying the wings of birds, to Herophilus’ laying the foundations of our understanding of anatomy through some of the first dissections, nature has provided Humanity with the means to understand the world around us in numerous different ways throughout the millennia of our scientific journey.
The bounty of knowledge which we have managed to acquire from the natural world has only increased as we have developed ever more sophisticated analytical tools and techniques, the growing arsenal of which allows us to dive ever-deeper into the fundamental mechanisms of the universe.
The ability to analyze DNA methylation has been around for quite some time now, however it is only very recently that we have managed to start gaining any significant level of understanding of how exactly DNA methylation effects an organism during the aging process. You might consider this analogous to being able to see a forest, but not being able to truly understanding the ecosystem which you are observing. The intricacies of genetics are vast and trying to understand how certain changes in methylation patterns can affect an organism is challenging to say the least. This can often leave researchers being unable to see the wood from the trees, metaphorically speaking.
Sometimes, it is simply easier to comprehend these changes by simply contrasting them with similar data sets. After all, observing the effects of changing variables is one of the founding principles of the scientific method, and such approaches have already allowed us to identify numerous links between changes in DNA methylation patterns and phenotypical decline in aged organisms. To this end, in our search from a greater understanding of ourselves we have turned once again to nature, specifically to our closest living relatives, the primates.
By analyzing 2400 tissues derived from 37 different species of primate, the Horvath lab has successfully created several different forms of pan-primate epigenetic clocks which are capable of accurately gauging biological age, regardless of primate species. This pan-primate DNA methylation clocks offer an extremely powerful tool for understanding the intricacies of how exactly primates age, along with potentially offering us a means through which we can begin to understand why humans in particular have much longer lifespans than other species of primates.
Ultimately, the pan-primate clocks will allow for longevity interventions to be assessed across species, leading to an increased understanding of the primate aging process, with the aims of one day being able to halt of even reverse it.
Once again, DNA methylation clocks are offering scientists a means through which aging can be analyzed quantitively on a genetic level, something which was only a hypothesis not that long ago. With this development, research into life extension is given yet another tool through which knowledge may be derived, which in turn may lead to a brighter future for both Humanity and the primates alike.
References:
- Horvath, S., Haghani, A., Zoller, J. A., Lu, A. T., Ernst, J., Pellegrini, M. et al. (2020). Pan-primate DNA methylation clocks. bioRxiv, 2020.11. 29.402891.
