New test that 'can predict' your risk of death within next 12 months

A simple cheek swab can predict a person’s risk of dying within the coming 12 months, a new scientific study suggests.

Researchers from Tally Health, a New York biotech company, have developed an epigenetic clock called CheekAge which can work out biological age - as opposed to a person’s actual age - from easy-to-collect cheek cells, by analysing changes to DNA.

Previous studies have shown that behavioural and lifestyle factors like stress, poor sleep and nutrition, smoking, and alcohol consumption tend to get imprinted on DNA as “epigenetic marks”. These marks appear in the form of chemical modifications to DNA and such changes make it possible to quantify the body’s ageing progression at the molecular level.

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Previous attempts to test molecular ageing markers relied on examining blood cells - which is laborious. But a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Ageing describes a new way to determine biological ageing from epigenetic marks in cells collected from cheek swabs.

Researchers say the new CheekAge test can establish potential links between specific genes in the body and processes driving human mortality, The Independent reported. The research team tested their method to see how well it predicted mortality from any cause in 1,513 women and men, born in 1921 and 1936, and who were followed throughout their lives.

Their analysis revealed that changes to DNA were significantly linked with mortality. Participants in the highest CheekAge group were 148 per cent more likely to die that year compared to those in the lowest group, the Mail reported.

The method, which the team said was more accurate than other epigenetic clocks that analysed blood, was tested on participants who had already died. But future research could involve testing on people who are still alive, to see if it can accurately predict when they will die.

Writing in the journal Frontiers in Aging, study author Maxim Shokhirev said: “This implies that a simple, non-invasive cheek swab can be a valuable alternative for studying and tracking the biology of aging.”

Dusko Ilic, Professor of Stem Cell Sciences at King’s College London, told the Mail: “In reality, such clocks provide probabilistic risk assessments rather than concrete predictions. Emphasising mortality in this context may potentially cause unnecessary anxiety and foster a fatalistic mindset in some people, rather than promoting actionable insights into healthspan and well-being.

“A more nuanced approach would be to frame CheekAge as a tool for assessing biological age and associated health risks, encouraging interventions aimed at extending healthy ageing rather than focusing on mortality.”