Soon a test that tells how long you will live for is to go on sale. The researchers have developed a blood test that can show the speed of ageing and provide an estimate of how long a person is going to live, will cost £435.
The controversial test has been premeditated to gauge vital structures on the tips of a chromosomes called telomeres, which they believe are one of the most significant and precise markers of the speed at which a person is ageing. The developers of test claim that it can notify if an individual is aging biologically by gauging the length of these telomeres.
These help in comparing if an individual is older or younger than chronological age, which is calculated from birth of an individual. The information acquired from this test cannot be used to calculate the years an individual has left with. Numerous studies have shown that people with shorter telomeres are prone to die in younger age in comparison to those with longer telomeres.
According to Maria Blasco, an inventor of the test from the Cancer Research Center, Madrid, they know that people who are born with shorter telomeres than normal also have a shorter life span but it is not known if longer telomeres are going to give a longer life span. What is new about this test is that it is very accurate.
They can identify very small differences in telomere length and it is a very simple and fast technique where many samples can be analyzed at the same time. Most significantly they able to resolve the presence of hazardous telomeres, added Blasco. They claim, telomere testing will become widespread within the next ten years.
The results of the tests could also be of great curiosity to companies offering life insurance, with those not blessed with long telomeres struggling to get cover. Some researchers are also concerned that testing may be hijacked by organizations or individuals trying to peddle fake elixirs of life.