A Queensland scientist hopes to have found the roadmap to the fountain of youth.
The discovery of nearly 1500 genes associated with ageing was made by an international team of scientists, including Dr Joseph Powell from the University of Queensland's Institute for Molecular Bioscience.
The team examined the link between gene activity and ageing, identifying genes that become more or less active as people get older.
Most of the 1497 age-associated genes weren't previously linked to ageing.
"This information could be used to predict people who are at risk relative to their age for disease, and allow people to make lifestyle and environmental changes to mitigate that risk," Dr Powell said.
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"While an anti-ageing treatment is still well into the future, this work could provide a roadmap for developing new treatments for age-related diseases."
The research team, also including Professor Peter Visscher from UQ's Queensland Brain Institute, was able to develop a new method of predicting biological age and assessing whether participants are ageing faster or slower than expected.
Unsurprisingly, researchers found that participants with a higher predicted age were more at risk of disease such as increased blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
"This study has illuminated some of the underlying molecular mechanisms that cause your disease susceptibility to rise as you age, opening new avenues for future studies," Dr Powell said.
