TruDiagnostic has officially announced the launch of new validated and system-specific trained clocks that mark an industry-first in regards to epigenetic aging analysis of individual organ systems. Developed by scientists at Yale University and named as SYMPHONYAge (System Methylation Proxy of Heterogeneous Organ Years), the stated system-specific clocks basically give us an insight into how different parts of the body decline independently, and synchronously, over time. You see, considering that our individual lifestyle and dietary choices have a huge say when it comes to the way our organ systems will age, SYMPHONYAge makes a point to study the same, as well as disease-related risks, by examining 11 major components and their biological effect on one another. These components include Lung Age, Heart Age, Brain Age, Hormone Age, Metabolic Age, Musculoskeletal Age, Blood Age, Liver Age, Inflammation Age, Kidney Age, and Immune System Age. Now, there are biological age tests that already predict the extent of aging across various organ systems, the new technology sets itself apart on the back of scope, validation, and associations with various health outcomes. Talk about its differentiation on a slightly deeper level, we referred to the technology’s 11 different clocks, which is more than any other alternative. However, what we haven’t mentioned yet is that the segregated systems can also be combined to form one integrated whole-body clock.
Next up, we must get into the technology’s pledge of delivering more data. In essence, TruDiagnostic’s latest launch uses 133 molecular, cellular, and functional biomarkers for modeling organ system ages. The significance attached to it can be understood once you consider how other organ clocks have never used more than 59 biomarkers. Furthermore, it also leverages 125K methylation sites, whereas on the other hand, previous organ clocks would only use 78K methylation sites.
“Many age-related illnesses stem from issues in various biological systems working together. For instance, arthritis is the result of both musculoskeletal wear and inflammation, whereas stroke can happen due to problems in the cardiovascular system, metabolism, inflammation, and brain function,” said Dr. Albert Higgins Chen, a researcher at Yale University.
Hold on, we still have few more bits left to unpack. These bits include the presence of more validation. SYMPHONYAge clocks have been validated to be superior to presently available clocks when evaluating 16 different health outcomes across 5,129 samples (three different datasets). An example is also made evident by a study still under review. Basically, the stated study discovered that SYMPHONYAge’s Systems Age clock is only comparable to four different outcomes in just 2,167 samples (1 dataset only). Alongside validation, there is also in play a significantly broader set of insights, meaning the new system can be used to find aging subtypes with unique health risks, something which hasn’t been done with older, system-specific clocks. On top of that, going by the initial details, SYMPHONYAge clocks were found to be specifically associated with health outcomes related to their physiological system (ex. Lung clock predicts future lung cancer, Heart clock predicts future coronary heart disease, and Blood clock predicts future leukemia).
Making the whole development even more important is, of course, TruDiagnostic’s existing stature. Founded in 2019, the company’s rise to prominence stems from its ability to transform the healthcare potential of epigenetic data into actionable applications. At present, the company is capable of analyzing more than 1,000,000 locations on one’s DNA.