Epigenetic Clocks & Dog Aging: Why Larger Dogs Age Faster with Dr. Blaise Mariner

About Our Guest Blaise Mariner is a postdoctoral scientist at Arizona State University working with Dr. Noah Snyder-Mackler on the groundbreaking Dog Aging Project. With a PhD from the University of New Mexico in molecular biology and biochemistry, Blaise specializes in epigenetics, DNA methylation, computational biology, and how these mechanisms influence aging rates across different dog breeds. His research bridges fundamental aging biology with practical applications for extending health span in companion animals. In This Episode, We Explore: 🧬 DNA Methylation & Epigenetic Clocks — How chemical modifications to DNA can reveal a dog's true biological age, separate from chronological age 🐕 Body Size & Aging Rate — Why larger dog breeds show faster epigenetic aging slopes and what this tells us about lifespan differences 📊 Transposable Elements — The role of mobile DNA elements in aging and how they're dysregulated faster in bigger dogs 🎯 Mendelian Randomization — A statistical breakthrough for identifying causal links between methylation patterns and phenotypic outcomes like mobility 🧪 Consumer Epigenetic Tests — What dog owners should actually know about biological aging tests (and their limitations) Timestamps 00:00 — Introduction to Blaise Mariner and his journey to dog aging research 05:30 — What is DNA methylation? Understanding epigenetics and epigenetic clocks 08:45 — Chronological age vs. biological age 12:20 — The body size effect: Why larger dogs show steeper epigenetic aging slopes 15:50 — Male vs. female dogs: Subtle differences in epigenetic aging rates 18:30 — What are transposable elements and why do we have them? 22:15 — Methylation drift: How older dogs lose control of mobile DNA elements 29:10 — Introduction to Mendelian randomization and its power for aging research 36:20 — What "causal" really means in epigenetics research 39:45 — Consumer epigenetic age tests for dogs: Promise and limitations 46:15 — The biggest opportunities ahead: Non-invasive biomarkers and longitudinal tracking Don't Miss Out—Subscribe & Engage! 🎯 Subscribe to stay updated on the latest discoveries in dog longevity research 💬 Leave a comment with your questions about epigenetics, dog aging, or the implications for your own pet 🔔 Turn on notifications so you don't miss upcoming episodes. 📌 Bookmark this video as a resource for understanding how modern genomics is revolutionizing our understanding of aging in dogs Citations * Blaise L. Mariner, Brianah M. McCoy, Ashlee Greenier, Layla Brassington, Elizabeth Slikas, Christine Adjangba, Abbey Marye, Benjamin R. Harrison, Tal Bamberger, Yadid Algavi, Efrat Muller, Adam Harris, Emily Rout, The Dog Aging Project Consortium, Anne Avery, Elhanan Borenstein, Daniel Promislow, Noah Snyder-Mackler. DNA methylation of transposons pattern aging differences across a diverse cohort of dogs from the Dog Aging Project. bioRxiv 2024.10.08.617286; doi.org/10.1101/2024.10.08.617286 * Brianah M. McCoy, Blaise L. Mariner, Claire F. Cheng, Elizabeth Slikas, Christine Adjangba, Ashlee Greenier, Layla Brassington, Abbey Marye, Benjamin R. Harrison, Maria Partida-Aguilar, Tal Bamberger, Yadid Algavi, Efrat Muller, Adam Harris, Emily Rout, The Dog Aging Project Consortium, Anne Avery, Elhanan Borenstein, Daniel Promislow, Noah Snyder-Mackler. Aging at scale: Younger dogs and larger breeds from the Dog Aging Project show accelerated epigenetic aging. bioRxiv 2024.10.03.616519; doi.org/10.1101/2024.10.03.616519 * Novototskaya-Vlasova KA, Neznanov NS, Molodtsov I, et al. Inflammatory response to retrotransposons drives tumor drug resistance that can be prevented by reverse transcriptase inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022;119(49):e2213146119. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2213146119