Younger remarks
A writer who recently turned 40 recounted signing up for an unusual competition called “Younger,” in which participants try to turn back their biological age. Roughly 500 people will compete in the contest, which will last six months, and there will be a leaderboard.
Christin Glorioso developments
The winners will be the person who has opened the widest gap between their chronological age and their biological age, and the person who has rejuvenated their biological age the most.
Behind the competition is Christin Glorioso, a neuroscientist and physician. NeuroAge Therapeutics, of which Glorioso is the founder and CEO, offers tools that monitor brain health and aging, and is conducting a trial investigating whether biological brain age can predict the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
DNA statements
Glorioso says that with the competition she aims to introduce “aging clocks” to the world and to build “the world’s most comprehensive clock dataset.”
These clocks measure chemical signatures accumulated on DNA, or proteins and lipids in the blood; their number exceeds a hundred. Although they are useful in scientific research, they are not yet considered reliable enough to predict individuals’ biological age.
DEXA assessment
For standard participants ($999), the measurements are as follows:
- Overall biological age, pace of aging, and the age of 11 organ systems including the heart and brain, via a blood sample sent to TruDiagnostic
- A brain age score based on NeuroAge’s cognitive tasks
- Physical measurements such as grip strength
- “Face age” from selfies uploaded to an app developed by a Harvard team
“Ultra” participants who pay $4,499 are also offered additional blood tests, along with MR and DEXA scans.
The author stated that in their first test four years ago, they found their biological age to be equal to their chronological age; a year later, their heart came out young, while their brain, liver, and hormonal system came out relatively old.