What it means
DunedinPACE (Pace of Aging Computed from the Epigenome) was published in 2022 by Belsky and colleagues. It was trained on the Dunedin Study, a birth cohort of about 1,000 New Zealanders followed from 1972, in whom nineteen organ-system markers were measured repeatedly between ages 26 and 45. The clock learned which DNA methylation patterns tracked the rate of that decline.
The output is a single number: 1.0 means ageing one biological year per calendar year; 0.8 means 20% slower; 1.2 means 20% faster. Unlike the first-generation clocks, it does not depend on chronological age at all.
Why it matters for longevity
A pace measure responds to change faster than an accumulated-age measure, which makes it the clock most suited to checking whether a protocol is doing anything. It is now the preferred endpoint in several lifestyle and drug trials, including the CALERIE calorie-restriction analysis and the ongoing metformin and rapamycin studies.
What the evidence says
In the Dunedin cohort, faster DunedinPACE at 45 predicted poorer balance, slower gait, weaker grip, cognitive decline and older facial appearance. In external cohorts (Framingham, Normative Aging Study) it predicts mortality, chronic disease and disability. In CALERIE, two years of roughly 12% calorie restriction slowed DunedinPACE by 2–3% versus controls — modest, but a real randomised result.
Test-retest reliability is better than the older clocks (intraclass correlation around 0.9) but a single reading still carries noise of a few percent, and no trial has yet linked a change in DunedinPACE to a change in disease outcomes.
How to measure or use it
- Available through several consumer and clinical vendors; the assay is a blood or saliva methylation array.
- Read it as a trend: a baseline, then yearly. A move from 1.05 to 0.95 over two years is meaningful; a move of 0.02 is not.
- Pair with the markers it was trained against — VO2max, hs-CRP, HbA1c, lean mass — which are cheaper and move first.
Related
- Biomarkers of ageing — the routine panel to read it against
- Fasting and time-restricted eating — what CALERIE did and did not show
- How to build a longevity protocol — where a clock fits in a plan
Frequently asked questions
What is a good DunedinPACE score?
Below 1.0 means slower than the reference cohort average. Lifelong athletes and lean non-smokers often read around 0.8–0.9; smokers and people with obesity often read above 1.1.
How is it different from GrimAge?
GrimAge estimates accumulated biological age and mortality risk; DunedinPACE estimates the current rate of ageing. They correlate but are not interchangeable.
Does it change with lifestyle?
Yes, modestly: calorie restriction, weight loss and exercise slow it in trials and cohorts. The effect sizes are a few percent.
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