New biological ‘clock’ reveals your real ageing behaviour

They were developed by an international team of scientists from the USA and France. Instead of assessing the wear and tear of organs individually, IC Clock looks at a person’s overall ‘internal power’ – their mobility, thinking, psycho-emotional state, vision, hearing and nutrition. It is these six factors that the World Health Organisation considers key to the concept of healthy ageing.

The peculiarity of this watch is that it works on the basis of blood or saliva analysis. Scientists study special markings on DNA molecules – essentially ‘fingerprints’ of how the body ages. This allows them to understand how much of your potential is preserved without complicated procedures.

Interestingly, the development was tested on two groups of people at once: first on residents of the French city of Toulouse, from 20 to 102 years old, and then – on participants of the famous heart study in the United States. And the results were impressive: IC Clock is more accurate than the old biological ‘clock’ predicts not only death, but also the general state of health.

The researchers also noticed that people with high IC Clock scores are better able to cope with inflammation, have a stronger immune system and are more likely to lead a healthy lifestyle. In other words, the clock really does reflect the underlying processes of aging.

Most importantly, in the future this clock could be used even without going to a clinic. The team is already developing a method using dried blood droplets to make the diagnosis accessible to everyone, including people in low-income countries.

The authors hope that the IC Clock will not only help doctors and scientists, but also encourage authorities to recognise ageing as a condition that can be treated and prevented. In the US, unlike the WHO, it is not yet considered a disease – and this hinders the development of effective drugs.

IC Clock will soon be part of the ambitious international XPRIZE Healthspan competition. The teams’ task is to find ways to rejuvenate muscle, brain and immune function by 10-20 years in one year. The winner will receive a $101 million grant. And yes, IC Clock will be monitoring how successful it is.

So maybe soon we’ll have a simple tool to help us find out exactly: how young you really are – and what we can do about it.