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Disentangling the Genetic Determinants of Human Aging: Biological Age as an Alternative to the Use of Survival Measures

¹ Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for Aged and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
² Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Massachusetts.

Address correspondence to David Karasik, PhD, Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for Aged, Research and Training Institute, 1200 Centre Street, Boston, MA 02131. E-mail: karasik{at}mail.hrca.harvard.edu

The choice of a phenotype is critical for the study of a complex genetically regulated process, such as aging. To date, most of the twin and family studies have focused on broad survival measures, primarily age at death or exceptional longevity. However, on the basis of recent studies of twins and families, biological age has also been shown to have a strong genetic component, with heritability estimates ranging from 27% to 57%. The aim of this review is twofold: first, to summarize growing consensus on reliable methods of biological age assessment, and second, to demonstrate validity of this phenotype for research in the genetics of aging in humans.