Overview
- The Science paper published Thursday used repeated whole-blood gene expression and 1,197 serum metabolite measurements from 335 women over up to eight years to map individual molecular aging trajectories.
- Researchers identified 5,061 genes and 181 metabolites that changed over time, showing widespread molecular shifts linked to cardiometabolic and neurodegenerative conditions.
- Many individuals followed trajectories that diverged from population averages and those differences were shaped by host genetics, shifts in blood cell composition, seasonality, and circadian timing.
- The study found immune remodeling with reduced adaptive immune signals and sustained innate activity, and highlighted gene-specific patterns such as CXCL9 changes linked to cardiac aging and declines in TP53 for some participants.
- Authors say repeated multi-omic profiles could enable precision-medicine tools to separate healthy aging from early disease but note the findings are blood-based, come from a female UK cohort, and require broader, longer and more diverse validation.