Can we really measure life extension?

Challenges and opportunities in aging research

The search for accurate ways to measure biological age is an ongoing quest in aging research.

Affordable and clinically reliable aging biomarkers are vital in accelerating aging research. Unfortunately, the research community currently lacks effective tools to assess life extension outcomes of interventions.

The only accepted method is to conduct life span studies, which has typically resulted in endless debates over their validity. Costing investors considerable time and money.

Recent studies in mice and humans show circulating monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) levels increase in an age-dependent manner. This supports the idea that MCP-1 may be used as a measure of biological age in response to life extension therapies.

However, it’s early days… and other approaches combining measures of aging and cellular reactions may be more accurate in the long run.

Only time will tell…