Lexicon
DunedinPACE
Also known as Dunedin Pace of Aging
Definition
DunedinPACE, derived from the Dunedin Pace of Aging Methylation, is one of the epigenetic clocks developed to quantify biological aging. [1] It is an advanced second- or third-generation clock, developed alongside DNA GrimAge after first-generation models such as Horvath's multi-tissue clock. [2]
How it works
DunedinPACE is a DNA methylation algorithm that reflects an individual's rate of aging rather than a static biological age, and it predicts age-related decline and Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. [3] Among epigenetic metrics, DunedinPACE specifically measures aging rate, distinguishing it from clocks that estimate an age value. [4]
Connected concepts
How it's measured
DunedinPACE is computed from DNA methylation, but it has a limited application to blood methylation data only. [4] Its output is a rate of aging, so a value expresses how fast an individual is aging rather than a difference between biological and chronological age. [3]
What levels mean
A faster DunedinPACE indicates more rapid biological aging and predicts age-related decline and Alzheimer's disease and related disorders, whereas a slower pace indicates the opposite. [3] Higher educational attainment was associated with a slower pace of aging across five studies, with a meta-analysis effect size of -0.20, an effect that persisted after accounting for tobacco smoking. [3] DunedinPACE has shown significant associations with chronic low back pain severity and functional impairment in degenerative musculoskeletal disease, with correlations in the range of 0.39 to 0.45. [5]
Community knowledge
## Clock Design And Resolution DunedinPACE belongs to the second-generation class of epigenetic clocks that describes as built to predict…
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- 1.Margiotti K, Monaco F, Fabiani M, Mesoraca A, Giorlandino C. Epigenetic Clocks: In Aging-Related and Complex Diseases. Cytogenet Genome Res · 2023
- 2.Evangelina R, Ganesan S, George M. The Epigenetic Landscape: From Molecular Mechanisms to Biological Aging. Rejuvenation Res · 2025
- 3.Sugden K, Moffitt TE, Arpawong TE, Arseneault L, Belsky DW, Corcoran DL, Crimmins EM, Hannon E. Cross-National and Cross-Generational Evidence That Educational Attainment May Slow the Pace of Aging in European-Descent Individuals. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci · 2023
- 4.Yusipov I, Kalyakulina A, Trukhanov A, Franceschi C, Ivanchenko M. Map of epigenetic age acceleration: A worldwide analysis. Ageing Res Rev · 2024
- 5.Bao C, Zhu W, Bao T, Hou Y, Wu T, Huang J, He C. The application of epigenetic clocks in degenerative musculoskeletal diseases: A systematic review. Osteoarthritis Cartilage · 2025
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