Markers, Mechanisms and Metrics of Biological Aging: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Biological aging is a rapidly growing area of research, which entails characterizing the rate of aging independent of an individual's chronological age. In this review, we analyze the results of biological aging research in 435 papers published in a twelve year window, revealing changing patterns of molecular markers of biological aging use over time, and the development of novel metrics of biological aging. We further identify consistent and discordant research findings, as well as areas of potential future research focusing on questions of measurement with methylation or biomarker-based assessment and other variables relevant to the study of biological age.