The clock, described today in Nature, is based on an analysis of gene activity in more than 25 tissues across four species: mice, rats, the monkeys called crab-eating macaques (Macaca fascucularis) and humans. Although it is not ready for medical applications, the clock could eventually be a boon to biologists keen to learn which drugs or lifestyle changes might mitigate ageing's myriad effects on the body. 'Even if you want to do an experiment in mice, to test the lifespan of mice takes a very long time,' says Joao Pedro de Magalhaes, a biologist at the University of Birmingham, UK, who studies the genetics of ageing and was not involved in the study. 'If you had something that would give you a quicker indication of whether your treatment is going to work or not, that would be very advantageous.' Age is typically measured by the steady passage of years, but the ticking of the clock in a person's cells can stutter, stall and restart depending on the individual's health and...
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