The Science of Longevity; Epigenetics Explained.

What do we mean when we talk about epigenetics?

Epigenetics is the study into how our environment and behaviour can affect the way that our genes work. Epigenetic changes are reversible changes (unlike irreversible gene mutations or genetic changes). They don't change our DNA, but they do change the way that our body reads a DNA sequence.

In the early 2000s, scientists mapped the entire set of instructions that describe every aspect of our bodies, the human genome.

The human genome is the complete set of our DNA organised into chromosomes.

The human genome gives us a complex and unique version of the biology of you, in terms of health and disease. Initially, when scientists unlocked the genome, there was hope that this would unlock a more tailored approach to medicine. If we can understand what gene variants you carry, then the theory was, we could tell what would like in your health future. Sadly, this revolution in medicine didn't happen. But why?

All the ingredients but no recipe.

The human genome gives us the ingredients for understanding our health, but not the recipe.

Lets think about the genome like a shopping list for a recipe. Only we don't have the recipe. Instead, we have the ingredients, but no ideas what to do with them. Imagine making a cake with all the ingredients you need, but without any guidance on the quantities needed. Too many eggs and you'll make a dense, rubbery sponge. Too few and your cake will fall apart.

This is akin to your future health risk. By mapping the genome, we uncovered the ingredients to health but we needed the recipe. We needed the details of how much of each ingredient and when.

Enter Epigenetics.

Epigenetics studies the layers of switches that turn your genes on or off. Note that these switches can be set by external factors, such as exercise, smoking, nutrition and stress.

At The Re:PAIR Clinic, we use epigentics to give individualised assessment of how much your body is programmed to a certain type of biological state, or how much cumulative aging your cells have sustained. To return to the baking analogy, we can measure the ingredients and the recipe.

The multiome allows us to understand how well your cells are aging.

This recipe is known as the multiome; the profiling of both the transcriptome (gene expression) and the epigenome (chromatin accessibility and modifications) within the same single cells. It is this that gives us the key to understand how well your cells are aging and what risks they are facing or may face in the future.

By switching the focus from the ingredients (genomics) to the recipe (multiomics), we can both identify what genes are over- or underactive and uncover the external factors that can affect that activity.

Researchers (from Harvard University and Partners Biobank) have helped us to understand how we can use these links to give us a roadmap of how to maximise your individual future health.

How does epigentic testing work?

At Re:PAIR, we use TruDiagnostic testing to look at 35 epigenetic predictors of future disease, along with evidence-based interventions to optimise each of them.

Through our tests, we measure, then modify your unique risk. We identify any predisposition to disease and look at ways we can mitigate it through evidence-based approaches.

TruDiagnostic testing allows us to look at 35 epigenetic predictors of future disease and create a roadmap to mitigate them.

We can't deliver the promise of eternal life, but our approach can help you to establish your best health future possible by focusing on optimising quality of life.

If you would like to find out more about epigenetics, please book in for a consultation by emailing The Re:PAIR Clinic at admin@therepairclinic.co.uk.