Protocol
Epigenetic / DNA-methylation biological age clock
DNA methylation age · DNAmAge · epigenetic clock · biological age testing · LinAge 2.0 · Horvath clock · OMICmAge · DunedinPACE · TruAge
Methylation clocks are well established as population-level correlates: they predict all-cause mortality and age-related disease risk better than chronological age in large prospective cohorts. That is association, not utility. The interventional evidence is thin and does not support the way the test is sold. The most-cited human trial is a pilot RCT in Aging (2021, n=43 healthy men aged 50-72, 8-week diet and lifestyle programme) reporting a 3.23-year reduction in DNAmAge versus controls; the authors themselves call for larger and longer trials, the cohort was narrow, and several investigators disclosed financial interests in the intervention. Critically, the outcome measured was the clock readout itself, not a healthspan or mortality outcome. As of this research there is no RCT showing that measuring a methylation clock, or acting on the number it produces, improves any hard health outcome. Practical limits compound this: clocks are not standardised between labs, test-retest variability can be on the order of years, results are not diagnostic, and there is no validated clinical protocol for what to change if the number comes back high. Reasonable use is as a research-grade engagement or tracking metric, explicitly labelled as such. It should not be presented as a clinically actionable measure of ageing.
At a glance
- Evidence
- Commercial
- Singapore (HSA)
- Not verified as an HSA-registered or HSA-classified product. Singapore's published framework distinguishes clinical genetic testing, which is a licensable healthcare service under the Healthcare Services Act and per MOH "can only be offered by doctors", from non-clinical genetic testing for personal wellbeing or recreational purposes, which does not require an HCSA licence and is not regulated under health products regulations. Methylation age clocks are marketed in Singapore as wellness or self-knowledge tests rather than diagnostic devices, which places them on the non-clinical side of that line, though no HSA determination specific to epigenetic age clocks was located. HBRA and PDPA obligations still apply. Treat this as framework-level context, not a product-specific regulatory clearance.
- Australia (TGA)
- No TGA position on file
- Offered at
- 2 clinics
Singapore
Health Sciences Authority
- HSA status
- Not verified as an HSA-registered or HSA-classified product. Singapore's published framework distinguishes clinical genetic testing, which is a licensable healthcare service under the Healthcare Services Act and per MOH "can only be offered by doctors", from non-clinical genetic testing for personal wellbeing or recreational purposes, which does not require an HCSA licence and is not regulated under health products regulations. Methylation age clocks are marketed in Singapore as wellness or self-knowledge tests rather than diagnostic devices, which places them on the non-clinical side of that line, though no HSA determination specific to epigenetic age clocks was located. HBRA and PDPA obligations still apply. Treat this as framework-level context, not a product-specific regulatory clearance.
- In our SG set
- Tracked in Singapore
- SG clinics
- 2
Australia
Therapeutic Goods Administration
- TGA status
- No position on file
- In our AU set
- Not tracked in Australia
- AU clinics
- None on file
Evidence is not approvalAn evidence grade describes how strong the science is. A regulatory status describes whether a body has approved the intervention for an indication. They are different questions, answered separately above.
What it is
Plain-language explainer
A laboratory test that measures DNA methylation at a defined set of CpG sites, usually from blood or saliva, and runs the pattern through a trained statistical model to output an estimated "biological age" or rate of ageing. Different clocks (Horvath, PhenoAge, DunedinPACE, OMICmAge, and proprietary clinical versions such as LinAge 2.0) are trained on different reference data and are not interchangeable. Clinics sell it as a way to quantify how fast a person is ageing relative to their chronological age and to track whether lifestyle or medical interventions are working.
Categories
Protocol
Keep reading
Related coverage from the newsroom.
Sources
What this profile is built on
- Biological Age Snapshot: two epigenetic age clocks analysing DNA methylation plus an inflammation age clock, SGD 2,000 pre-GST · Chi Longevity
- NOVI Health assessments and add-on scans · NOVI Health
- Singapore: MOH's recent initiatives on direct-to-consumer genetic testing (clinical vs non-clinical licensing under the HCSA) · Global Compliance News (Baker McKenzie)
- Understanding direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests: 'clinical genetic testing is regulated and can only be offered by doctors' · HealthHub (Singapore Ministry of Health)
- Potential reversal of epigenetic age using a diet and lifestyle intervention: a pilot randomized clinical trial (n=43, 8 weeks) · Aging (Albany NY), 2021
- How to get a biological age test in Australia (Vively describes third-party providers; does not itself sell a methylation clock) · Vively
Every entity profile on variis is sourced. Not medical advice.