Metabolomic and omic assessment of biological ageing across the life-course (METAGE)

Both genetic and environmental factors affect the ageing process, leading to differences in ageing rates. Therefore, a person's "biological age", or overall physiological state, may differ from what is expected given their actual (chronological) age. Differences in biological aging rates mean some people die earlier and have more health problems in later life.
We aim to develop blood-based measures of biological age that provides improved prediction, over chronological age itself, of ill health and premature mortality in adults and developmental outcomes in children.

We will existing metabolomics (whole sets of small molecules) and other 'omics' (whole sets of molecules related to gene control and function) data from multiple population based cohort studies in the UK, Europe and the USA. We will develop blood tests of biological age composed of measurements of multiple molecules using advanced statistics. Three approaches will be pursued:
i) Using targeted metabolomics on over 200 molecules in approximately 35,000 people (aged 7-99 years);
ii) Using untargeted metabolomics on several thousand molecules in approximately 7,000 people (aged 20-95 years). Predictive metabolites will be identified, and the new blood test will tested with newly measured data in an independent population;
iii) Using metabolomic and omics data in 1,200 children (aged 6-11 years) to develop blood tests of biological development.

We will then assess whether 'age acceleration', the difference between predicted age (from metabolomic and omic age blood tests) and chronological age, is predictive of cardiovascular disease and premature death in adults and associated with height, weight, and mental development in children. We will identify the key environmental and genetic causes of age acceleration and the biological pathways underlying the ageing process.

The development of affordable biomarkers of biological age, improved knowledge of the biological of ageing in humans, and identification of risk factors of faster biological ageing rate may impact the following beneficiaries:

-Industry, including pharmaceutical companies
-Policy makers
-Public health campaigners
-Doctors
-Carers
-The general public

They may benefit in the following ways:

Pharmaceutical companies benefit from stratified selection of patients into drug trials, greatly reducing the number of patients needed to treat to observe an effect - and greatly reducing the costs of trials. Improved knowledge of the biology of ageing may identify the processes and sites most amenable to therapeutic targeting, potentially leading to new drugs to reduce the risk of age-associated morbidity. Other commercial areas include the burgeoning personal health field, where by customers often use apps to track their health and may pay a subscription for advanced services such as in-depth medical tests. These new development will contribute to the economic competitiveness of
the UK

Policy makers will benefit from a stronger evidence base regarding key determinants of faster biological ageing, allowing the development of evidence-based policy to improve healthy ageing for all sectors of society. Similarly, public health campaigns and messaging can target the reduction of risk factors of unhealthy ageing.

In the primary care setting, providing biological age tests to patients may provide a greater impact than current clinical tests and provide greater motivation to follow healthier life habits. in clinical practice, an affordable clinical test may be used to identify individuals most at risk of co-morbidities, potentially within early life where interventions may be most effective.

Ultimately, the general public will benefit from all these actions to improve ageing outcomes. With increasing lifespans and later retirement ages, increasing health and well-being in later life is one of the greatest challenges we face today. This will lessen the burden on carers and health services and extend productive lives, providing an overall benefit to the global economic performance