ArticleCell reports2025
Time is encoded by methylation changes at clustered CpG sites.
Article in Cell reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Advancing Forensic Human Chronological Age Estimation: Biochemical, Genetic, and Epigenetic Approaches from the Last 15 Years: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Pooled it
- Development of a precise saliva-based epigenetic clock using a six-CpG-marker panel.International journal of legal medicine · 2026Article
- Cell-to-cell variability and gain of methylation at polycomb CpG islands as a hallmark of aging.Nature communications · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
17 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Age-dependent changes in DNA methylation allow chronological and biological age inference, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Using ultra-deep sequencing of >300 blood samples from healthy individuals, we show that age-dependent methylation changes occur regionally across clusters of CpG sites either stochastically or in a coordinated block-like manner. Deep learning of single-molecule patterns from two genomic loci predicts chronological age with a median accuracy of 1.36-1.7 years on held-out samples, dramatically improving current clocks. Predictions are robust to sex, smoking, BMI, and biological age measures. Longitudinal 10-year analysis shows that early deviations from predicted age persist throughout life, and subsequent changes faithfully record time. Strikingly, accurate chronological age predictions are possible using as few as 50 DNA molecules, suggesting that age is encoded by individual cells. Overall, DNA methylation changes in clustered CpG sites illuminate the principles of time measurement by cells and tissues and facilitate medical and forensic applications.
Indexed as
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Registered trials
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.