Epigenetics: What Are They and How to Test Yours
1,562 words, 8 minutes read time
Updated on January 22, 2025. Fact checked by Robert Underwood
Epigenetics studies how genes are turned on or off without changing DNA, playing a key role in ageing and chronic diseases. Ageing is a major factor in chronic illness, with many diagnosed in their fifties or earlier. Lifestyle choices, such as diet and stress, significantly influence gene expression and health outcomes. Epigenetic testing, now the gold standard for measuring biological age, has replaced older methods like telomere testing due to its accuracy. Advanced tools like DunedinPACE, OMICm Age, and Symphony Age provide detailed insights into ageing and biomarkers, helping practitioners create personalised health plans. These tests allow for tailored interventions based on individual biological and lifestyle factors, promoting healthier ageing.
Ageing is the biggest factor when it comes to the development of chronic disease. The latest longevity research suggests that, in theory, by slowing ageing an individual can minimise the amount of time that they spend in an unwell state (known as sick-span) at the end of their lives. In the UK the average age to be diagnosed with a chronic health condition is early in an individual’s early fifties. In economically deprived areas this figure drops further to somewhere in the mid to late forties. By 65, the average pensioner is on five or more medications.
What are Epigenetics?
Epigenetics is a complex field, however, getting your head around the definition of the term is quite straightforward.
Each of your cells has the same DNA sequence, but what separates an eye cell from a skin cell, is how those genes are turned on and off. Think of DNA as your body’s hardware and epigenetics as its operating system. Another way of describing epigenetics is like the cooking recipe of each cell, the ingredients (DNA) don’t change, but over time those instructions for the recipe slowly fade away, resulting in a cell being expressed in a less youthful state.
There are some genes you want to be turned off with age like tumour suppressor genes, or collagen-producing genes. This is why, for example, the epigenetics surrounding a disease like cancer are much more relevant to any potential outcome than any of the popularised high-risk genes, for example, the BRCA gene for breast cancer. Talking specifically of cancer, 90%[1] of positive cases are now believed to be the result of lifestyle factors that you have control over. This figure is thought to be less for the progression of other age-related diseases though and 80%[2] are again thought to have a very strong lifestyle or epigenetic component.
Trauma is another field studied by epigeneticists who have identified that this psycho-immunological disorder can be passed down through multiple generations through epigenetics. A 2013 study[3] illustrated this perfectly when it showed that the fear of the smell of cherry blossom could be passed down in mice. In the study, the mice were shocked with low voltages of electricity and then exposed to the smell of cherry blossom. This led to them being conditioned to fear the smell of cherry blossoms. The mice were then bred with each generation being tested to see if they continued to have an aversion to the smell of cherry blossoms. It took a staggering five generations for the trauma associated with the flowers to leave the mice!
Another well-known example of epigenetics centres around the idea of people having children at older ages. Having a lower biological age (especially for women) is linked to a lower risk of many birth defects[4].
Testing Epigenetics
Measuring how your epigenetics are expressed (turned on or off) is now considered the gold standard for biological age testing. This position used to be held by another test that looked at telomere length. Telomeres are caps found on the end of DNA components called chromosomes. By testing the length of an individual’s telomeres you could determine how many life cycles a cell has left. This was then used to help determine an individual’s biological age. Newer research has since demonstrated that telomere length only represents an estimated 2.8% of ageing due to its limited specificity[5], this is why newer epigenetic clocks are becoming more widely used as that same number is closer to 60%!
The Best Epigenetic Tests On The Market
Early epigenetic tests, known as ‘clocks’ were good at estimating chronological age but not particularly accurate at predicting how healthy an individual was. In recent years, with the development of newer Dunedin PACE clocks, this has changed as these newer clocks have proven to be very sensitive to lifestyle changes, making them a great tool for determining an individual’s health and also trialling out new diets and supplements.
An example here would be senolytics, compounds that work to remove senescent or zombie cells from the body. Fisetin, Quercetin and Dasatinib are examples of senolytics and were originally shown with older epigenetic tests to hurt biological or cellular ageing. However, the more accurate generation two and three clocks have been able to show that these supplements do, indeed, have a positive impact on biological age. The degree to which these compounds are effective depends on several factors such as the patient’s levels of senescence, a maker of cellular inflammation.
The company leading the charge with these tests and the one I use with clients is Trudiagnostic. Their industry-leading TruAge test consists of three advanced epigenetic clocks: the DunedinPACE, the OMICm Age, and the Symphony Age. Each of these clocks plays a unique role in assessing cellular age and provides valuable insights into how quickly someone is ageing and why.
The DunedinPACE measures the pace of ageing, giving a clear indication of whether someone is ageing faster or slower than the average population. For example, a score of 1.1 means the individual is ageing 10% faster than average, while a score of 0.7 suggests they are ageing 30% slower. While DunedinPACE is excellent for identifying the overall rate of ageing, it doesn’t provide detailed insights into the specific biological mechanisms driving this process.
This is where the addition of the OMICm Age and Symphony Age are useful.
OMICm Age breaks down specific health markers associated with ageing, offering a more granular understanding of the biological factors at play. Symphony Age goes even further by linking these biomarkers to individual lifestyle factors, such as diet, exercise, and stress management.
By combining the broad overview provided by DunedinPACE with the detailed health marker analysis of OMICm Age and Symphony Age, Trudiagnostic’s TruAge test helps practitioners and coaches move beyond generic recommendations. This allows them to make highly personalised recommendations tailored to the unique biological and lifestyle factors influencing each client’s ageing process.
Who is Tony Pemberton
Tony is a certified Epigenetic Coach, this followed a long career as a Building Information Modelling Engineer. He re-trained in Epigenetics in 2021 after being diagnosed with ADHD and discovering contrary to what his Doctor told him, that lifestyle does greatly impact symptoms. Tony reads DNA, epigenetic, and gut microbiome reports for clients, giving them tailored advice, which over time shows in their overall health and wellness. His experience gives clients a unique consultation of quickly connecting the dots of past and present biomarkers, and valuing engineering the right supplement list to fit any budget.
References
[1] Anand, P., Kunnumakara, A. B., Sundaram, C., Harikumar, K. B., Tharakan, S. T., Lai, O. S., Sung, B., & Aggarwal, B. B. (2008). Cancer is a Preventable Disease that Requires Major Lifestyle Changes. Pharmaceutical Research, 25(9), 2097–2116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11095-008-9661-9
[2] Katz, D. L., Frates, E. P., Bonnet, J. P., Gupta, S. K., Vartiainen, E., & Carmona, R. H. (2017). Lifestyle as medicine: The case for a true health initiative. American Journal of Health Promotion, 32(6), 1452–1458. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117117705949
[3] Callaway, E. (2013). Fearful memories haunt mouse descendants. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature.2013.14272
[4] Having a baby after age 35: How aging affects fertility and pregnancy. (n.d.). ACOG. https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/having-a-baby-after-age-35-how-aging-affects-fertility-and-pregnancy
[5] Marioni, R. E., Harris, S. E., Shah, S., McRae, A. F., Von Zglinicki, T., Martin-Ruiz, C., Wray, N. R., Visscher, P. M., & Deary, I. J. (2016). The epigenetic clock and telomere length are independently associated with chronological age and mortality. International Journal of Epidemiology, 45(2), 424–432. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyw041
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