Epigenetic clocks and mitochondrial ageing - the missing link?

This video summarises the paper “Association of Epigenetic Age Acceleration and Mitochondrial DNA‐Based Aging Metrics Provides Insights Into Mechanisms of Aging‐Related Diseases,” published in Aging Cell (2025). Aging affects every cell differently, but two of its most studied hallmarks, namely epigenetic drift and mitochondrial decline, might be more tightly connected than we thought. This large multi-cohort study from Boston University and collaborators across NIH programs explores how molecular markers from both genomes interact in over six thousand people. The results reveal patterns that could explain why biological and chronological ages sometimes diverge, and how this divergence relates to chronic diseases like diabetes and obesity.