Dr. Junyue Cao's lab at Rockefeller University used a cutting-edge single-cell technique called EasySci-ATAC to map how chromatin accessibility changes in roughly seven million cells across 21 mouse tissues at three different ages. This produced the most comprehensive epigenomic atlas of mammalian aging to date. About a quarter of all cell types shift significantly with age, many changes are coordinated across multiple organs simultaneously, and males and females age differently at the cellular level. The research suggests aging has program-like features, which is encouraging because it implies specific cellular targets exist. Identifying those targets is the essential first step toward designing interventions that slow aging broadly rather than treating one disease at a time.
