Otago University scientists have demonstrated a new DNA-based 'clock' in sheep that could lead to new insights into how we age. Photo / Associate Professor Tim Hore, Totovision Ltd
Otago University scientists have demonstrated a new DNA-based 'clock' in sheep that could lead to new insights into how we age. Photo / Associate Professor Tim Hore, Totovision Ltd
A team of scientists have created a new DNA-based ‘clock’ measuring long-term exposure to the male hormone, androgen.
They have found they can manipulate this clock, used in mice and sheep, by tweaking androgen.
Their just-published findings could lead to future breakthroughs in medicine, ageing and elite sport.
Kiwi scientists have developed a world-first, DNA-based “clock” that could lead to new medical treatments and insights into how we age.
What are called “androgen clocks” won’t tell you the time of day: we can think of them more as biochemical tests to measure age.
That’s done byexamining specific DNA regions that change over time in a clock-like manner when they’re exposed to male hormones, otherwise known as androgens.
High levels of androgen hormone are what makes the average male stronger, faster - and hairier - than the average female.
Yet, until recently, there has been no way to measure long-term male hormone exposure.
In earlier work, Otago University researchers and overseas collaborators developed a DNA-based epigenetic clock to estimate sheep ageing, with surprising accuracy.
Now, in a major study just published in the major international journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they’ve developed a method to measure the changes in androgen more easily.
Its lead author, Dr Victoria Sugrue, said the model was able to accurately estimate months of androgen exposure for both mice and sheep.
Importantly, they also found they could manipulate the clock - and stop and start it - by tweaking the androgen.
Otago University researcher Dr Victoria Sugrue and colleagues have developed a world-first 'androgen clock'. Photo / Dr Victoria Sugrue
Associate Professor Tim Hore, research team leader in Otago’s Department of Anatomy, said there were many applications for the clock in medicine, sports, and agriculture.
In one case, the researchers used it to test for tainted meat, comparing lamb bought from a butcher with old rams from a farm.
“As expected, we showed that meat from the old rams had an androgen clock that was significantly advanced compared to the lamb,” Hore said.
“This could be used immediately for verification purposes - meat from older intact male sheep and pigs is likely to be tough and tainted with a bad taste – but that is not always obvious from the shop window.
“Likewise, it could prove meat has been grown with or without hormone supplementation – something particularly important to consumers of beef.”
Another experiment involved treating female mice with synthetic androgen: similar to those used by drug cheats in elite sport.
“It had a striking effect on DNA and accelerated the androgen clock well beyond what we would see in even a male mouse of the same age,” Hore said.
“If we are able to create an androgen clock for humans, it could be used to detect synthetic androgen abuse in elite sports.”
Elsewhere, he said the tech could be used in medicine to diagnose hormone disorders like hyper-androgenism.
“Further experimentation with the androgen clock will help us uncover much more about the mechanism of how DNA ages and why.”
Jamie Morton is a specialist in science and environmental reporting. He joined the Herald in 2011 and writes about everything from conservation and climate change to natural hazards and new technology.
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