Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Tier 3 — Observational / field trialPeer-reviewed

The X-Age Project to construct a Chinese aging clock

Jiaming Li, Mengmeng Jiang, Qiaoran Wang, Zikai Zheng, Jianghua Shen, Jingyi Li, Muzhao Xiong, Yandong Zheng, Xiaoyong Lu, Yusheng Cai, Yanling Fan, Lingling Geng, Qianzhao Ji, Qianqian Peng, Shuhui Sun, Yuan Yuan Wang, Zijuan Xin, Kaowen Yan, Yuanhan Yang, Jun Yu, Haoteng Yan, Ding Ai, Yongping Bai, Yan Bi, Xiu‐Wu Bian, Pengcheng Bu, Jian‐Ping Cai, Chun-Mei Cao, Feng Cao, Zhongwei Cao, Renjie Chai, Piu Chan, Chang Chen, Chengshui Chen, Chunying Chen, Di Chen, Hou‐Zao Chen, Lin Chen, Quan Chen, Xiao Chen, Xiaochun Chen, Yu Chen, Zi‐Jiang Chen, Weimin Ci, Zhe Dai, Qiurong Ding, Birong Dong, Jiahong Dong, Jian‐Gao Fan, Shiqing Feng, Xin Feng, Yun Feng, Xiaobing Fu, Xiaolong Fu, Feng Gao, Jiangang Gao, Qiang Gao, Shaorong Gao, Yonghao Gu, Youfei Guan, Feifan Guo, Jing‐Dong J. Han, Haiping Hao, Jihui Hao, Fuchu He, Jinhan He, Ming He, Mingguang He, Qiyang He, Zhiying He, Zuhong He, Huashan Hong, Jiaxu Hong, Shengping Hou, Cheng Hu, Ping Hu, Zhibin Hu, Canhua Huang, Jun Huang, Kai Huang, Pengyu Huang, Xunming Ji, Yong Ji, Shunji Jia, Hong Jiang, Wenjian Jiang, Lingjing Jin, Zi‐Bing Jin, Shenghong Ju, Zhenyu Ju, Qing‐Peng Kong, Wei Kong, Weijia Kong, Xiangqing Kong, Guanghua Lei, Geng‐Lin Li, Ji Li, Jian Li, Mengfeng Li, Rong Li

Nature Aging · 2025

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Summary

The X-Age Project addresses a significant gap in gerontological research by developing a biological ageing clock specifically calibrated for Chinese populations, where existing clocks have been predominantly trained on European ancestry cohorts. By integrating multi-omic biomarkers, the researchers suggest that ethnicity-specific calibration may improve prognostic accuracy and clinical utility. This work underscores the importance of population-specific molecular phenotyping for translational gerontology and precision medicine in ageing research.

Regional applicability

This study is conducted in China and addresses Chinese population genetics and ageing patterns, which differ from United Kingdom populations. Whilst the methodology may inform development of UK-specific ageing clocks, direct application to British populations would require re-calibration and validation within UK cohorts to account for genetic and environmental variation.

Key measures

Multi-omic biomarkers; biological age; chronological age; ethnicity-specific calibration; prognostic accuracy

Outcomes reported

Development and validation of a biological ageing clock calibrated specifically for Chinese populations using multi-omic biomarkers. The study assessed whether ethnicity-specific calibration improves prognostic accuracy compared to clocks trained on European ancestry cohorts.

Theme
Nutrition & health
Subject
Other / interdisciplinary
Study type
Research
Study design
Cohort study with biomarker analysis
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
Status
Published
Geography
China
System type
Human clinical
DOI
10.1038/s43587-025-00935-w
Catalogue ID
SNmq64cvny-nmvwq2

Topic tags

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