Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37005462›Full record

ArticleCommunications biology2023

Multi-tissue DNA methylation aging clocks for sea lions, walruses and seals.

Todd R Robeck, Amin Haghani, Zhe Fei, Dana M Lindemann, Jennifer Russell, Kelsey E S Herrick, Gisele Montano, Karen J Steinman, Etsuko Katsumata, Joseph A Zoller and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Communications biology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

10 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Designing Epigenetic Clocks for Wildlife Research.Molecular ecology resources · 2025
    Review
  5. Estimating Polar Bear (Ecology and evolution · 2025
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. The androgen clock is an epigenetic predictor of long-term male hormone exposure.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  10. Article
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

11 authors.

Todd R RobeckZoological Operations, SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, Orlando, FL, USA. todd.robeck@seaworld.com.ORCID 0000-0001-8573-5070
Amin HaghaniDepartment of Human Genetics, Gonda Research Center, David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Zhe FeiDepartment of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Dana M LindemannSeaWorld of Florida, Orlando, FL, USA.
Jennifer RussellSeaWorld of Texas, San Antonio, TX, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0288-8392
Kelsey E S HerrickSeaWorld of California, San Diego, CA, USA.
Gisele MontanoZoological Operations, SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, Orlando, FL, USA.
Karen J SteinmanSpecies Preservation Lab, SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, San Diego, CA, USA.
Etsuko KatsumataKamogawa Sea World, Kamogawa, Chiba, Japan.
Joseph A ZollerDepartment of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6309-0291
Steve HorvathDepartment of Human Genetics, Gonda Research Center, David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA. shorvath@altoslabs.com.ORCID 0000-0002-4110-3589

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Age determination of wild animals, including pinnipeds, is critical for accurate population assessment and management. For most pinnipeds, current age estimation methodologies utilize tooth or bone sectioning which makes antemortem estimations problematic. We leveraged recent advances in the development of epigenetic age estimators (epigenetic clocks) to develop highly accurate pinniped epigenetic clocks. For clock development, we applied the mammalian methylation array to profile 37,492 cytosine-guanine sites (CpGs) across highly conserved stretches of DNA in blood and skin samples (n = 171) from primarily three pinniped species representing the three phylogenetic families: Otariidae, Phocidae and Odobenidae. We built an elastic net model with Leave-One-Out-Cross Validation (LOOCV) and one with a Leave-One-Species-Out-Cross-Validation (LOSOCV). After identifying the top 30 CpGs, the LOOCV produced a highly correlated (r = 0.95) and accurate (median absolute error = 1.7 years) age estimation clock. The LOSOCV elastic net results indicated that blood and skin clock (r = 0.84) and blood (r = 0.88) pinniped clocks could predict age of animals from pinniped species not used for clock development to within 3.6 and 4.4 years, respectively. These epigenetic clocks provide an improved and relatively non-invasive tool to determine age in skin or blood samples from all pinniped species.

Indexed as

CaniformiaSea LionsSeals, EarlessAgingAnimalsDNA MethylationPhylogenyWalruses

Identifiers

PMID37005462
PMCPMC10067968

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.