Generation Lab Introduces First Platform that Measures Aging (Irina Conboy)

#1

Is anyone trying this out, or planning to soon?

SAN FRANCISCO, May 31, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – Generation Lab, the first longevity platform to measurably extend the human lifespan, today announced the general availability of its groundbreaking offering: the first platform that measures aging speed, biomarkers for disease, and top aging factors. It offers personalized action plans aimed at cell regeneration across key organs and systems to slow or even reverse aging.

While interest in longevity is increasing, clinicians and their patients have trouble identifying which interventions are truly effective and which are not. Until now, there has been no way to scientifically measure effectiveness, beyond how a person looks or feels. And not every intervention is effective for everyone.

Based on peer-reviewed science and groundbreaking research led by company co-founder Dr. Irina Conboy, UC Berkeley, and published as a cover story in Aging in Sept 2023, the Generation Lab Longevity Platform is now available and encompasses three steps:

  1. The “SystemAge” Test: An easy-to-use test that measures a person’s aging speed and “biological noise” across 19 major organs and systems in the body;
  2. Personalized Action Plans & Review with a Doctor: A personalized report is sent with details on the health of each function of the body - inflammation, regeneration, homeostasis, reproduction, etc. Users are connected to a physician to review clinical and lifestyle interventions the person might consider to slow the aging process or improve health for each system;
  3. Efficacy Measurement & Follow Up Tests: Subsequent testing to measure the efficacy of those interventions, followed by an updated report and recommendations.

The cycle is repeated 3-4x a year, enabling people to continually adapt their longevity approach as their body changes. In addition to addressing longevity, Generation Lab’s platform can also help identify chronic, age-related diseases – including neurodegenerative diseases and many types of cancer – before symptoms are present, enabling physicians to begin early treatment.

Not Just Another Biological Clock

Unlike biological clocks, which are based on linear models that predict aging and disease by comparing a few people to each other, Generation Lab quantifies biological age and aging speed through precise measurement of molecular biological noise, or the unhealthy fluctuation of processes in our bodies which increases with aging and disease.

One of the first longevity clinics to partner with Generation Lab was New York City’s Extension Health . Dr. Jonathann Kuo, Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Extension Health and a double board-certified Pain Management Specialist and Anesthesiologist, said, “In order to slow or reverse a patient’s aging process, as a first step we need an accurate measure of biological age. Generation Lab’s approach brings a level of accuracy that will allow us to bring the best patient care to our customers. It changes the game by enabling us to start with a holistic picture and set a baseline that we can refer to as we treat patients over time. It’s an incredibly exciting development for those of us working in longevity, and we think it will help boost patient interest in interventions.”

“Generation Lab data can demonstrate real economic benefits to longevity treatment, because reversing or slowing aging results in better health, which leads to lower healthcare spending,” said Alina Rui Su, co-founder and CEO of Generation Lab. “Over time, Generation Lab is building a comprehensive data set on the efficacy of different aging interventions, to help separate truly effective approaches from the snake oil that continues to propagate in this field. We think this data will be useful not just for patients and physicians but also for insurers, employers, and other healthcare payers.”

Healthcare 3.0: Ushering in an Era of Preventive Care

Healthcare 3.0 represents a paradigm shift in personalized, preventive and precision medicine, leveraging advanced technologies such as AI, genomics and digital health solutions. It will optimize patient outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, and help people live healthier longer.

“We are a catalyst for Healthcare 3.0, where healthcare is preventive not reactive, and every person has control over their own health journey,” said Su.

The Generation Lab platform is available for purchase online or via one of the dozens of longevity clinics across the U.S. in our affiliate program.

About Generation Lab

Generation Lab provides the first and only platform that measures the effectiveness of longevity interventions to identify what works. Co-founded by pre-eminent aging and longevity researcher Dr. Irina Conboy from UC Berkeley, Generation Lab combines an easy-to-use test with proprietary techniques to definitively measure molecular disbalance that indicates aging and risk of disease before symptoms arise. The company works with clinicians who can recommend personalized interventions to increase health, wellness, and longevity; and Generation Lab uniquely measures the effectiveness of these over time.

Related

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#2

is any of this measured?

Here, we attempted to uncover organs contributing to age-related changes in the plasma proteome by correlating plasma protein age trajectories with their corresponding gene expression trajectories in each organ (Fig. 4a,​,b).b). This analysis revealed 25 plasma proteins correlated (Spearman correlation coefficient > 0.6) with gene expression in at least one organ, totaling 35 unique plasma protein/organ pairs. We discovered remarkably high correlation for several, such as vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (Vcam1) in the kidney and fibroblast growth factor 10 (Fgf10) in the spleen, and other notable pairs such as glial fibrillary acidic protein (Gfap) and the brain. Especially interesting are Vcam1 and periostin (Postn), which both show exceptional correlation across several organs (Fig. 4c–j). Vcam1 was recently identified as a critical mediator of brain aging by old plasma19, and the loss of Postn in adipose tissues contributes to impaired lipid metabolism20. Furthermore, both are implicated in extracellular matrix regulation and fibrotic diseases, perhaps indicating age-related fibrosis. Throbospondin-4 (Thbs4), here decreasing with age and highly correlated with gene expression in muscle, was also recently discovered as a young blood-enriched protein that promotes synapse formation21. Interestingly, white adipose tissues emerge from this analysis as well, with 5 plasma proteins highly correlated with gene expression in visceral MAT and GAT, and 3 in SCAT (Fig. 4a). Surprisingly, limb muscle which shows a modest number of DEGs displays 7 plasma proteins correlated with gene expression across the lifespan, including Postn, bone morphogenic protein-1 (Bmp1), matrix metalloprotease-2 (Mmp2), and other extracellular matrix (EM)-associated proteins (Extended Data Fig. 10a). EM-associated proteins actually constitute a majority of the 25 plasma proteins we identified (Extended Data Fig. 10b). While these findings are intriguing, plasma proteins may change in abundance independent of gene expression differences. For example, a tissue may preferentially release certain proteins more with age. Furthermore, some tissues lack age-correlation, but show high gene expression of plasma proteins (Supplementary Table 10). Future research will determine if these gene expression changes do indeed contribute to functionally relevant age-related differences in the plasma proteome, or if they mediate other processes like immune cell adhesion and infiltration.

Extended Data Figure 10.

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STRING analysis of top correlating plasma proteins.

a, The top 7 plasma proteins correlated with gene expression in muscle, colored by pathway. b, the top 25 plasma proteins correlated with gene expression in any organ.

2 Likes
#3

Ok I met Alina yesterday. She’s cool and easy to talk to.

Many ppl (eg Karl Pfleger) report very high variance in their epigenetic age results. Generation Lab tries to just measure epigenetic noise and how it changes with aging (she mentioned the proteomic pulsed waves paper, but also said that proteomics change a lot during the day => not the most consistent). Also that measured epigenetic noise from aging seems to really accelerate in both genders around age40. Her approach to measuring noise doesn’t seem to be the same as that of Andrei Tarkhov’s.

Smg in the ElasticNet method seems related (not the only factor) to why the epigenetic clocks in some people are so inconsistent across the same individual.

There are pdf reports showing estimated epigenetic age by organ - HOWEVER - the reports didn’t have much detail about which CpG sites had more noise [maybe I could ask if there’s more]

They use a tasso device for collecting blood (I hate lancets) which reduces a lot of the activation energy for TruDiagnostic/the others

She’s also into plasmapheresis as a rejuvenation strategy [whcih could be a second arm of Generation] though as a younger person, this isn’t the intervention I care most about…

I think there’s a chance this could become WAY more useful than the other epigenetic tests, but too early to decide (having several measurements across each year works, though there are always issues with immune cell composition changes between blood withdrawal dates for epigenetic testing). Whatever studies that were done on TruDiagnostic participants (eg in vegans) or those that Greg Fahy studied should be measured with Generation Lab too…

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#4

Is the product/service live for the general population yet?

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#5

“ElasticNet is only capable of showing linear changes”

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#6

I mean…maybe check the website?

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#7

Yes, it’s available but expensive, $500 for one test. So, comparable to TruDiagnostics Complete test. Would love to see some reviews and comparisons with competing BioAge clock tests. A really good test is what we need but I couldn’t find much feedback on this one. I also keep watching for Teal Omics to launch.

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#8

Sorely needed, but can’t find any comparison between them. They claim similar results, measuring aging for around 19 organs.

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#9

Given the critique of the methylation-based bioage tests, I only took the so-called third generation test at TruAge, Dunedin Pace that claims to measure rate of aging. There issome reason to hope it is better.

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#10

Generation Labs System Age Report

About a week ago, my ‘results’ were online for a couple of hours, then they disappeared. Unfortunately I didn’t download while I had the chance, but I did screenshot the summary, as follows. Most all the subsystems were epigenetically several years older than chron age, ranging from 69-82. Yet my my system age came out as 70, two years younger than chron.

generation labs system age
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Today, the report showed up again, this time with much different results. System age 44 vs. 72 chron. And all the subsystems came in within a tight range of about 43-45 years. Implying a System Age aging rate of .62x vs. chron age. Maybe I can enter this result in the trud contest!

Here’s the full report:

2024-10-09-version-1.3.0-SystemAge-Report.pdf (1.1 MB)

I sent off questions as to why the huge difference between last week and this, and how could it be that all subsystems fall within such a tight range. I guess a discussion with a doctor is included, so will be interesting to hear the justification for all this.

Before ordering I reviewed the website content and related info,and got the impression this was a load of bombastic hoohah. So far, not persuaded otherwise.

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#11

This is really interesting - thanks for posting the details!

@AlexKChen did you ever get tested by this method?

I’m just reading up on the science behind this test… from links on their website: Science | Generation Lab

They don’t seem to have any 3rd party validation of their biomarker test, nor a comparison vs. other tests, or anything on how they validated the test process as its currently designed and implemented (beyond the basic research paper). I think they have a long way to go.

It would be interesting (for anyone trying this test out) to see how results vary if you did pre / post testing before and after starting rapamycin.

They talk (on their website) a little about approaches to slowing your clock down…

Screen Shot 2024-10-09 at 8.45.02 PM
Screen Shot 2024-10-09 at 8.45.02 PM2674×1180 114 KB

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#12

That looks like they just make up a bunch of numbers they know you will be happy about.

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#13

For people interested in this biomarker / clock and the company: An interview with the active founder (vs. the more passive founder Irina Conboy) of Generational Lab:

See: Extending human healthspan and longevity | Alina Rui Su, CEO of Generation Lab

#14

If they did that, they’re not thinking very hard about long-term use of the product.

Not much motivation for me to try to improve anything, and then retest.