Cellular Aging &
Longevity Pathways
Ageing is described through a set of interconnected cellular hallmarks. Transcriptomics reads genes involved in DNA repair, telomere maintenance, cell cycle arrest and autophagy. It measures transcripts, not enzyme activities.
Reading Longevity-Associated Genes
DNA methylation clocks estimate age from CpG methylation in a single sample (PMID 29643443). Transcriptomics measures a different analyte — the expression of genes involved in repair and clearance. Neither substitutes for the other.
Tracking SIRT1, SIRT3 and SIRT6 describes the transcription of three sirtuin genes. Tracking CDKN2A and CDKN1A alongside the autophagy genes ATG5 and MAP1LC3B describes which arrest and clearance programmes are being transcribed in the cells sampled. Autophagic flux itself requires LC3-II protein turnover measurement and is not readable from these transcripts (PMID 20144757).
Key Pathway Targets
Sirtuins 1, 3, and 6
NAD+-dependent deacetylases that regulate DNA repair, mitochondrial homeostasis, and gene silencing.
Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase
Catalytic protein subunit of telomerase. TERT mRNA is detectable in circulating lymphocytes but does not track telomerase activity, which also requires the TERC RNA component and holoenzyme assembly (PMIDs 10220433, 32242127).
Senescence Markers (p16 / p21)
Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors that arrest the cell cycle, serving as primary biomarkers of cell aging.
Autophagy Regulators
Essential machinery for building autophagosomes to clear damaged proteins and organelles (mitophagy).
Why DNA Tells Only Half the Longevity Story
Your DNA carries variation in telomere maintenance genes including TERT. This panel does not sequence DNA, and none of that variation changes over your lifetime.
Transcriptomics (RNA) measures gene expression as it is happening. Because transcription responds to conditions rather than inheritance, a transcript panel reflects the state of these genes at the moment the sample was taken.
Protein Panels vs. Transcriptomics
Methylation clocks and telomere assays estimate age-related metrics from a single sample. Transcriptomics measures which repair and clearance genes are being transcribed. The two describe different things.
| Protein Marker | What It Measures | RNA Target |
|---|---|---|
| Epigenetic Clocks | Estimates age from CpG methylation measured in a single sample. | — |
| Telomere Length Assay | Average telomere length across leukocytes, reported as a T/S ratio. | TERT |
| Serum Inflammaging | Circulating inflammatory protein concentrations. | — |
WHAT A TRANSCRIPTIONAL PANEL DOES NOT TELL YOU
- × That you have, or do not have, any medical condition. This panel reports gene activity, not diagnoses.
- × Whether a therapy is working. Transcript levels move for many reasons — sleep, a recent infection, the time of day, how long since you last ate or trained — and a change in them is not evidence that any intervention succeeded or failed.
- × What your results will be next month. Every value describes the moment the sample was drawn. Single-timepoint transcript measurements carry substantial within-person variability.
- × What is happening in a tissue the sample did not come from. These panels run on a blood sample. A blood transcript level is not a muscle, liver, brain or adipose measurement.
The NAD+-Sirtuin-Autophagy Axis
Longevity pathways are governed by metabolic energy sensors that detect cofactor availability. Restoring intracellular NAD+ levels serves as the primary molecular trigger, activating sirtuin deacetylases that coordinate genomic repair and autophagy cleanup.
Sirtuin Activation
NAD+ is the co-substrate sirtuins consume, so raising NAD+ availability raises their catalytic activity rather than their transcript levels (PMID 33353981).
DNA Repair
Sirtuins deacetylate histones and other substrates. These are protein-level activities and are not reported by transcript abundance.
Lysosomal Autophagy
Autophagy genes including ATG5 and MAP1LC3B are transcribed as part of the clearance programme. Note that acute autophagy induction is controlled by ULK1 and TFEB phosphorylation, which this panel does not measure (PMID 21258367).
Upregulating Cellular Longevity
Each of these has published evidence bearing on the pathways this panel reads. The strength of that evidence differs considerably between them, and is noted on each card.
Caloric Restriction & Fasting Mimicking
Lowers glucose and insulin signaling. Human data on SIRT1 induction by caloric restriction are inconsistent.
Autophagy Induction (Spermidine)
Dietary supplementSpermidine inhibits the acetyltransferase EP300, which acts as an endogenous repressor of autophagy (PMID 25526088). It does not act directly on the ATG5 or MAP1LC3B promoters.
NAD+ Precursors (NMN / NR)
Raise intracellular NAD+, the co-substrate consumed by both sirtuins and PARP1 — which is a matter of enzyme activity, not of transcription (PMIDs 33353981, 22921416).
Longevity Peptides (Epitalon)
A synthetic tetrapeptide. Not approved for any use, and there is no published human evidence that it induces TERT. Telomere capping is performed by the shelterin complex, not by telomerase recruitment.
Therapies That Act on These Pathways
These therapies act on genes this panel reports. Biomeme does not prescribe, supply, recommend or evaluate any of them, and listing one here is not a claim that it works. Several are available only by prescription; some are not approved for any use. Where the published evidence is thin or points the other way, the card says so.
Epitalon
Not approved for any useNot approved for any use. There is no published human evidence for an effect on TERT expression or telomerase activity.
Niagen / NR
Dietary supplementRaises intracellular NAD+, the co-substrate sirtuins consume (PMID 33353981). Human outcome data remain limited.
NMN
Raises intracellular NAD+, the co-substrate sirtuins consume (PMID 33353981). Human outcome data remain limited.
HRT
Prescription onlyPrescription hormone therapy. On the inflammatory marker with the most pooled data, oral preparations raised CRP by 37.6% while transdermal had no effect (PMID 16918589). No SASP gene is on this panel.
Scientific Citations
- [1] Weng NP, Levine BL, June CH, Hodes RJ. Regulated expression of telomerase activity in human T lymphocyte development and activation. J Exp Med. 1996;183(6):2471-2479.
- [2] Liu K, Schoonmaker MM, Levine BL, June CH, Hodes RJ, Weng NP. Constitutive and regulated expression of telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) in human lymphocytes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1999;96(9):5147-5152.
- [3] Mizushima N, Yoshimori T, Levine B. Methods in mammalian autophagy research. Cell. 2010;140(3):313-326.
- [4] Kim J, Kundu M, Viollet B, Guan KL. AMPK and mTOR regulate autophagy through direct phosphorylation of Ulk1. Nat Cell Biol. 2011;13(2):132-141.
- [5] Bai P, Cantó C. The role of PARP-1 and PARP-2 enzymes in metabolic regulation and disease. Cell Metab. 2012;16(3):290-295.
- [6] Pietrocola F, Lachkar S, Enot DP, et al. Spermidine induces autophagy by inhibiting the acetyltransferase EP300. Cell Death Differ. 2015;22(3):509-516.
- [7] Horvath S, Raj K. DNA methylation-based biomarkers and the epigenetic clock theory of ageing. Nat Rev Genet. 2018;19(6):371-384.
- [8] Roake CM, Artandi SE. Regulation of human telomerase in homeostasis and disease. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2020;21(7):384-397.
- [9] Covarrubias AJ, Perrone R, Grozio A, Verdin E. NAD+ metabolism and its roles in cellular processes during ageing. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2021;22(2):119-141.
The Biomeme Molecular Ecosystem
From deep whole-transcriptome sequencing in the laboratory to rapid point-of-care instrumentation in the field.
High-Depth RNA Sequencing
Processed at One Health Labs, Biomeme's CLIA-certified laboratory, using Illumina NovaSeq high-depth paired-end RNA sequencing. Samples are collected in venous PAXgene blood RNA tubes to stabilize cellular transcription at the moment of draw.
Biomeme/5 Handheld Platform
Beyond central-lab genomics, Biomeme engineers patented, battery-powered real-time PCR instruments. Our deployable hardware brings decentralized molecular detection directly to the field and clinical points of care.
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ABOUT THESE PANELS
Biomeme's wellness transcriptomic panels are general wellness products. They report gene activity to support a healthy lifestyle. They are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate or prevent any disease or condition, and they are not a substitute for evaluation by a licensed healthcare professional. Results describe the state of the measured transcripts at the moment the sample was taken.