Can you really lower your biological age, and does the research support this?

Biological age can now be measured using epigenetic clocks. These are measurement tools that look at chemical tags on your DNA that change as you grow older. Well-known examples include the Horvath clock, PhenoAge and GrimAge. They demonstrably predict your risk of disease and death, making them useful as risk indicators, though not yet proven steering instruments.

Whether you can actually lower that biological age is a question very much under investigation, but one that remains unanswered. A review of the field¹ describes the results as promising, yet the authors are explicitly cautious. The studies are often small or methodologically weak. Hard conclusions about which supplement, diet or treatment works cannot yet be drawn.

A striking example of experimental research is a mouse study². Researchers used a temporary mRNA therapy targeting the liver to restore immune signals. This led to improved production of immune cells, stronger responses to vaccines and better antitumour immunity. The effects were also reversible after the treatment was stopped. However, this has been demonstrated in mice only. Whether it works in humans is entirely unknown.

In practical terms, there is currently no intervention with clinical proof that it significantly and lastingly lowers your biological age. The measurement tools exist, the first mechanistic clues are there, but the step toward solid clinical confirmation has not yet been taken. Products or programmes that do promise this are running far ahead of what the research justifies so far.