Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32895578›Full record

ArticleNature metabolism2020

Three-dimensional facial-image analysis to predict heterogeneity of the human ageing rate and the impact of lifestyle.

Xian Xia, Xingwei Chen, Gang Wu, Fang Li, Yiyang Wang, Yang Chen, Mingxu Chen, Xinyu Wang, Weiyang Chen, Bo Xian and 18 more

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In one paragraph

Article in Nature metabolism, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 54 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
54citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
3.7field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

54 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 92 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  7. Review
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  13. Improving Face Age Prediction by Using Multiple-Angle Photos.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2026
    Article
  14. Review
  15. Review
  16. Biomarkers of ageing of humans and non-human primates.Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology · 2025
    Review
  17. Review
  18. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

28 authors at 8 institutions in 6 countries.

Xian Xia *CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Developmental Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7772-0618
Xingwei Chen *CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Developmental Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Gang WuCAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Developmental Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Fang LiCAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Developmental Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Yiyang WangCAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Developmental Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Yang ChenCAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Developmental Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Mingxu ChenCAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Developmental Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Xinyu WangCAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Developmental Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Weiyang ChenCAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Developmental Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8430-7381
Bo XianCAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Developmental Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Weizhong ChenCAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Developmental Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Yaqiang CaoCAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Developmental Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4665-1517
Chi XuCAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Developmental Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Wenxuan GongCAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Developmental Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Guoyu ChenCAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Developmental Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Donghong CaiCAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Developmental Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Wenxin WeiDepartment of Hepatic Surgery, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.
Yizhen YanCAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Developmental Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7508-9861
Kangping LiuPeking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Center for Quantitative Biology (CQB), Peking University, Beijing, China.
Nan QiaoAccenture China Artificial Intelligence Lab, Shenzhen, China.
Xiaohui ZhaoAccenture China Artificial Intelligence Lab, Shenzhen, China.
Jin JiaAccenture China Artificial Intelligence Lab, Shenzhen, China.
Wei WangSchool of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1430-1360
Brian K KennedyDepartments of Biochemistry and Physiology, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
Kang ZhangFaculty of Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4549-1697
Carlo V CannistraciBiomedical Cybernetics Group, Biotechnology Center (BIOTEC), Center for Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering (CMCB), Center for Systems Biology Dresden (CSBD), Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life (PoL), Department of Physics, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0100-8410
Yong ZhouClinical Research Institute, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. yongzhou78214@163.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5221-8026
Jing-Dong J HanCAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Developmental Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China. jackie.han@pku.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9270-7139
Chinese Academy of Sciences · CNPeking University · CNAgency for Science, Technology and Research · SGCenter for Systems Biology Dresden · DEEdith Cowan University · AUMacau University of Science and Technology · MOSecond Military Medical University · CNShanghai Jiao Tong University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Not all individuals age at the same rate. Methods such as the 'methylation clock' are invasive, rely on expensive assays of tissue samples and infer the ageing rate by training on chronological age, which is used as a reference for prediction errors. Here, we develop models based on convoluted neural networks through training on non-invasive three-dimensional (3D) facial images of approximately 5,000 Han Chinese individuals that achieve an average difference between chronological or perceived age and predicted age of ±2.8 and 2.9 yr, respectively. We further profile blood transcriptomes from 280 individuals and infer the molecular regulators mediating the impact of lifestyle on the facial-ageing rate through a causal-inference model. These relationships have been deposited and visualized in the Human Blood Gene Expression-3D Facial Image (HuB-Fi) database. Overall, we find that humans age at different rates both in the blood and in the face, but do so coherently and with heterogeneity peaking at middle age. Our study provides an example of how artificial intelligence can be leveraged to determine the perceived age of humans as a marker of biological age, while no longer relying on prediction errors of chronological age, and to estimate the heterogeneity of ageing rates within a population.

Indexed as

FaceLife StyleAdultAlgorithmsDatabases, FactualDeep LearningFemaleHumansImage Processing, Computer-AssistedImaging, Three-DimensionalMaleMiddle AgedNeural Networks, ComputerPredictive Value of TestsSkin AgingTranscriptome

Identifiers

PMID32895578
OpenAlexW3096001596

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.