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Updated: Dec 19, 2025

Author Spotlight: Automated Lifespan Monitoring – Discovering Aging Dynamics with the Lifespan Machine
Published on: January 26, 2024
Repetitive elements as a transcriptomic marker of aging: Evidence in multiple datasets and models.
Thomas J LaRocca1, Alyssa N Cavalier1, Devin Wahl1
1Department of Health and Exercise Science, Center for Healthy Aging, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Repetitive element (RE) transcripts accumulate with age and can accurately predict biological age. These findings suggest RE transcripts are a promising novel marker for aging research and age-related diseases.
Area of Science:
- Genomics
- Aging Research
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Transcriptomic markers are crucial for understanding aging and related diseases.
- Noncoding repetitive element (RE) transcripts are often overlooked in transcriptome studies.
- The potential of RE transcripts as aging biomarkers remains unevaluated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of repetitive element (RE) transcripts in aging.
- To evaluate RE transcripts as potential transcriptomic markers of biological age.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of multiple RNA-sequencing datasets from human and Caenorhabditis elegans samples.
- Quantification and correlation analysis of RE transcript accumulation with chronological age.
Main Results:
- Most RE transcripts progressively accumulate with advancing age.
- RE transcript levels accurately predict chronological age.
- RE transcripts show strong correlation with biological age, indicating their potential as biomarkers.
Conclusions:
- RE transcripts are a significant, previously underappreciated component of aging.
- RE transcripts may serve as reliable biomarkers for biological age.
- The accumulation of RE transcripts is linked to aging processes and age-related diseases.
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