DNA replicates with a very high amount of fidelity (base pairs rarely get mis-matched), but it's possible to measure these mutations over time, if you had a reference sample from "x" number of years ago. Rates of mutations (and to be clear, by "mutations", I'm simply referring to the DNA polymerase making a "mistake" and the mis-matched repair not catching all of them) could probably be tracked and an age can be estimated. Is there a validated way to do this to account for all variations in someone's DNA (such as due to diet, environment, stress, etc.)? Good question!
Telomeres (ends of chromosomes) are also known to shrink over time, and this is also hard to answer in terms of "measuring" telomere ends to estimate age due to many confounding factors, but I'm sure someone is working on it.
Stats_Think t1_j98sdy6 wrote
Reply to Just with a sample of someone's DNA, can a lab tell the approximate age of a person? by Blakut
DNA replicates with a very high amount of fidelity (base pairs rarely get mis-matched), but it's possible to measure these mutations over time, if you had a reference sample from "x" number of years ago. Rates of mutations (and to be clear, by "mutations", I'm simply referring to the DNA polymerase making a "mistake" and the mis-matched repair not catching all of them) could probably be tracked and an age can be estimated. Is there a validated way to do this to account for all variations in someone's DNA (such as due to diet, environment, stress, etc.)? Good question!
Telomeres (ends of chromosomes) are also known to shrink over time, and this is also hard to answer in terms of "measuring" telomere ends to estimate age due to many confounding factors, but I'm sure someone is working on it.