Blood test tells you how long you will live
A $700 blood test that tells
someone¡¯s biological age will go on sale in Britain later this year, the
Independent reported Monday.
The test will be able to offer the
possibility of estimating how long the person has left to live by measuring
telomeres on the tip of their chromosomes, the most important and accurate
indicators of how rapidly someone is aging.
However, critics worry that it can be
misused by some companies that try to sell unproven anti-aging remedies.
Insurance companies might also take interest in the result of the test to
decide what kind of medical coverage they will offer.
However, the test could provide insights
into a range of age-related disorders, from cardiovascular disease to
Alzheimer¡¯s and cancer.
The inventor of the test said that the fact
that short telomeres can cause a shorter lifespan is already known.
¡°What¡¯s new about this test is
that it is very precise. We can detect a very small
differences in telomere length and it is a very simple and fast
technique where many samples can be analyzed at the same time. Most
importantly, we are able to determine the presence of dangerous telomeres --
those that are very short,¡± said Maria Blasco
of the Spanish National Cancer Research Center.
Telomere research is also an exciting area
in biomedical science and three scientists who received the Nobel Prize last
year are pioneers in the field.
¡°It will be useful for you to know
your biological age and maybe to change your lifestyle habits if you find you
have short telomeres,¡± said a former post-doctoral student of the Nobel
Prize winner Carol Greider of Harvard Medical School.
Source: The Korea Herald