Researchers at the Erasmus MC University Medical Center in Rotterdam (Netherlands) have discovered that it is possible to estimate a person's age from a drop of their blood . The method could be immediately applied in forensic medicine to calculate the age of criminals or missing persons from blood samples collected at the crime scene.
As published today in the journal Current Biology , the new method takes advantage of the mechanism of action of a type of cell of our immune system, T lymphocytes , which recognize the presence of invading microorganisms and foreign cells. This ability depends on different receptors specialized in identifying a specific type of molecule (antigen) from viruses, bacteria or even "abnormal" cells such as cancer.
In the process of producing these receptors, wastes called TRECs are generated, circular fragments of DNA whose number decreases constantly over time. By quantifying the amount of TRECs in the blood, Manfred Kayser and his colleagues have been able to estimate the age of 195 subjects, with a maximum margin of error of nine years . The researchers suggest that the test could be used to place unidentified people within intervals of around 20 years.
