The effects of nature and nurture on ageing
Ageing is a certainty for most everyone, yet we have a limited understanding of the factors that influence it. As the population gets older and people live longer, it becomes increasingly important to understand ageing and how to mitigate its effects. The EU-funded EUROBATS (Identifying biomarkers of ageing using whole transcriptomic sequencing) initiative has generated an extensive database of genomic information and advanced our understanding of the ageing process. By studying ageing in some 800 sets of twins, EUROBATS collected new data illuminating the influence of genetic and environmental factors on ageing. Using this information, the project also identified genetic markers that track the ageing process and which could be targeted for anti-ageing therapies in the future. Researchers found that gene expression varied less in older populations, although variation was usually tissue specific. EUROBATS has made this information publically available for the benefit of other researchers working on ageing as well as the global genomics community. This project has extended our understanding of ageing and, as a shared resource, its database will continue to benefit the field indefinitely.
Keywords
Ageing, twins, EUROBATS, biomarkers, genomic information, genetic markers