Cited by 1,025Epigenetics and DNA MethylationGenetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model OrganismsTelomeres, Telomerase, and Senescence

DNA methylation aging clocks: challenges and recommendations

Open access
Bell, Christopher G., Lowe, Robert, Adams, Peter D., Baccarelli, Andrea A., Beck, Stephan, Bell, Jordana T., Christensen, Brock C., Gladyshev, Vadim N. +13 more·2019·Genome Biology

Abstract

Epigenetic clocks comprise a set of CpG sites whose DNA methylation levels measure subject age. These clocks are acknowledged as a highly accurate molecular correlate of chronological age in humans and other vertebrates. Also, extensive research is aimed at their potential to quantify biological aging rates and test longevity or rejuvenating interventions. Here, we discuss key challenges to understand clock mechanisms and biomarker utility. This requires dissecting the drivers and regulators of age-related changes in single-cell, tissue- and disease-specific models, as well as exploring other epigenomic marks, longitudinal and diverse population studies, and non-human models. We also highlight important ethical issues in forensic age determination and predicting the trajectory of biological aging in an individual.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1186/s13059-019-1824-y

Cites

223 of 223 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Methylation levels in blood cells correlate strongly with cell composition.

    “Methylation levels in blood cells have been observed to correlate strongly with cell composition, which may be a result of changes in chromatin state with age148.”

    From Measuring biological age using omics data (2022) · cites this paper as [148]

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [209]Horvath S. Epigenetic clocks: from molecular pathways to anti-aging interventions. In: Epigenomics of Common Disease 2017. Hinxton, Cambridge; 2017. p. S73.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Bell, C. G., Lowe, R., Adams, P. D., Baccarelli, A. A., Beck, S., Bell, J. T., Christensen, B. C., Gladyshev, V. N., Heijmans, B. T., Horvath, S., Ideker, T., Issa, J.-P. J., Kelsey, K. T., Marioni, R. E., Reik, W., Relton, C. L., Schalkwyk, L. C., Teschendorff, A. E., Wagner, W., Zhang, K., & Rakyan, V. K.
Affiliations
  • Queen Mary University of London (GB)
  • Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (US)
  • Columbia University (US)
  • University College London (GB)
  • King's College London (GB)
  • Dartmouth College (US)
  • Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
  • Leiden University Medical Center (NL)
  • University of California, Los Angeles (US)
  • University of California San Diego (US)
  • Temple University (US)
  • Brown University (US)
  • Institute of Genetics and Cancer (GB)
  • Babraham Institute (GB)
  • University of Bristol (GB)
  • University of Essex (GB)
  • Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health (CN)
  • RWTH Aachen University (DE)
  • Macau University of Science and Technology (MO)
Corresponding author
  • Bell, Christopher G.
  • Lowe, Robert
  • Adams, Peter D.
  • Baccarelli, Andrea A.
  • Beck, Stephan
  • Bell, Jordana T.
  • Christensen, Brock C.
  • Gladyshev, Vadim N.
  • Heijmans, Bastiaan T.
  • Horvath, Steve
  • Ideker, Trey
  • Issa, Jean-Pierre J.
  • Kelsey, Karl T.
  • Marioni, Riccardo E.
  • Reik, Wolf
  • Relton, Caroline L.
  • Schalkwyk, Leonard C.
  • Teschendorff, Andrew E.
  • Wagner, Wolfgang
  • Zhang, Kang
  • Rakyan, Vardhman K.
Venue
Genome Biology
Published
2019-11-25
Volume
20
Issue
1
Pages
249-249
ISSN
  • 1465-6906 (ISSN-L)
  • 1474-760X
OpenAlex
W2990428470
Cited by
1,025
References
223
Citations by year
2026: 123 · 2025: 155 · 2024: 200 · 2023: 164 · 2022: 142 · 2021: 153 · 2020: 80 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 2
FWCI
8.52
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Genome biology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • Edinburgh Research Explorer (University of Edinburgh) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • Open Access at Essex (University of Essex) (acceptedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
  • Leiden Repository (Leiden University) (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
  • RWTH Publications (RWTH Aachen) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Queen Mary Research Online (Queen Mary University of London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (submittedVersion)
  • Columbia Academic Commons (Columbia University)
Funders
  • National Institute on Aging (AG031862-12, U34AG051425-01)
  • National Cancer Institute
  • Glenn/AFAR
  • National Institutes of Health (R01 ES025225, P30 ES009089, R01 ES027747, CA216265, AG021518, AG047745, AG047200, CA080946, CA214005, CA100632, CA221705, CA207360, CA207110, RO1AI121226, RO1MH113930, RO1MDO1430401)
  • National Institute for Health Research
  • UCLH Biomedical Research Centre (BRC369/CN/SB/101310)
  • Economic and Social Research Council (ES/N000404/1, ESN000498/1)
  • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/S020845/1, BB/K010867/1, BB/PO28187, BB/R00675X/1)
  • Nederlandse Hartstichting (2017T075)
  • Joint Programming Initiative A healthy diet for a healthy life (ZonMw 529051021)
  • BBMRI-NL (NWO 184.021.007, NWO 184.033.111)
  • National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (R01ES014811)
  • AACR (PR0125)
  • Alzheimer’s Research UK (PG2017B-10)
  • Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12013/5, MR/K013807/1, MR/R005176/1)
  • Cancer Research UK (C18281/A19169)
  • National Science Foundation of China (31571359, 31771464)
  • Royal Society Newton Advanced Fellowship (164914)
  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (WA 1706/8-1)
  • Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (VIP + Epi-Blood-Count)
  • Interdisciplinary Center for Clinical Research, RWTH Aachen University (O3-3)
  • Deutsche Krebshilfe (TRACK-AML)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Epigenetics and DNA Methylation
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Aging › Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Telomeres, Telomerase, and Senescence
Keywords
DNA methylation, epigenetic clocks, biological aging, chronological age estimation, CpG sites, longevity interventions, rejuvenation, biomarkers, forensic age estimation, biological age prediction, single-cell epigenomics
MeSH terms
Aging, Animals, Biological Clocks, Humans, Genome, Human, DNA Methylation, Epigenesis, Genetic, Genome-Wide Association Study

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review