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Manuel Serrano, ICREA researcher and head of the Cell Plasticity and Disease Group at IRB Barcelona, has been interviewed on Radio 4´s programme De boca a orella. The interview was about ways to measure biological age. The scientist says that one of the techniques receiving most attention is the epigenetic clock. He goes on to explain that this is a “clock” present in our blood and that, combined with the study of other factors such as telomeres (the structures that form at the ends of chromosomes), it serves to measure biological age. He goes on to say, ““Chromosomes are the structures in which lineal DNA is found. We have 23 chromosomes and their ends hold a repeated structure. It is known that these repetitions get shorter over time”.
link to: De boca a orellla (minutes: 41:30-54:14)
About IRB Barcelona
The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) pursues a society free of disease. To this end, it conducts multidisciplinary research of excellence to cure cancer and other diseases linked to ageing. It establishes technology transfer agreements with the pharmaceutical industry and major hospitals to bring research results closer to society, and organises a range of science outreach activities to engage the public in an open dialogue. IRB Barcelona is an international centre that hosts 400 researchers and more than 30 nationalities. Recognised as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence since 2011, IRB Barcelona is a CERCA centre and member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST).