Companies are beginning to offer epigenetic tests so people can ascertain if they are aging more quickly or more slowly than the average person, Wired reports.
It notes that epigenetic clocks are well established and examine certain epigenetic patterns associated with aging and disease. Based on that, they can be used to gauge someone's age and whether they are aging as expected. This, Wired writes, is the basis of companies wanting to sell epigenetic tests, so their customers can take the test, see how they are aging, tweak their lifestyle, and retake the test to see if that led to any alteration to their epigenetic age.
For instance, Elysium Health's Morgan Levine, who was already a vegetarian, runner, and equestrian, took her company's test, which costs about $500, to find her epigenetic age was about 2.5 years younger than her actual age. She tells Wired she has since gone vegan and started high-intensity training, and plans to retest. Similarly, Zymo Research and Epimorphy's Larry Jia took his company's test, which placed him at about six months older than his actual age, but making changes like getting more sleep hasn't moved that number, Wired notes.