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Modern medicine has come a long way and humans are living much longer than they were a century ago, but no person really knows just how long they will live for... until now. A new test promises to give an accurate estimation of the number of years left in anyone's life, and all it takes is some saliva.
Since age only represents how many times you've been on Earth as it has orbited around the sun, and it is not based on your health, there are now tests that try to delve deeper. One way is to examine telomeres, the parts of DNA strands that get shortened when cells replicate. The older we are, the shorter our telomeres get, and shorter telomeres make us more vulnerable to disease and cause the visible signs of aging. However, telomeres can't be reliably measured, but that didn't stop one company from developing what they call a "biological age" test that reveals how much time you have left to live.
Elysium Health's test measures over 100,000 sites on your DNA where methylation has taken place. Methylation is a biochemical process that doesn't change the DNA structure, but does affect how genes are expressed. The test uses industry-leading technology to give you the most accurate biological age, and it costs $499.
Even though the test does nothing to stop or reverse the signs of aging, it can have a profound effect on one's outlook. The son of one customer told The Guardian, "It was such a relief for her, because it gives her a newfound hope about life planning. Knowing how fast she is really aging, it gives her a renewed sense of self and how she should live in the upcoming decade."
You can get the test here.