KU Leuven develops test to determine age using DNA

Forensic biomedical scientists from the University of Leuven (KU Leuven) have developed a test to estimate a person’s age through samples of their blood or from their teeth. The test could help to track down criminals or identify dead bodies.

Currently, DNA profiles are used to identify criminals. But if the DNA is unknown, the new test can estimate the age of the perpetrator, with a margin of error of 3.75 years. Blood and teeth samples can also reveal the age of unidentified bodies. Teeth samples offer a margin of error of 4.86 years.

The researchers are the first to have successfully used the aging process embedded in DNA to estimate age. Human tissues and organs change as people grow older, and this aging process is regulated by DNA.

“The behaviour of our organs and tissues depends on which of our genes are activated,” explained KU Leuven professor Bram Bekaert. “As we grow older, some genes are switched on, while others are switched off.”

This process is partly regulated by methylation, whereby so-called methyl groups are added to our DNA. In specific locations, genes with high methylation levels are deactivated. Bekaert and his colleagues were able to estimate individuals’ age on the basis of a set of four age-associated DNA methylation markers.