Morgan Levine

At a glance

• Ageing biologist and group leader at Altos Labs; previously on the faculty at Yale University.
• One of the best-known developers of epigenetic clocks, tests that estimate a ‘biological age’ from DNA methylation.
• Developed PhenoAge (2018), a clock trained not on calendar age but on blood markers linked to mortality risk, and collaborated with Steve Horvath.
• Wrote the book True Age (2022) on what biological age is, how to measure it and which lifestyle factors are linked to it.
• Studies how cells and tissues age at the epigenetic level, and how rejuvenation can be measured reliably.
• Her book translates the research for a broad audience and discusses which lifestyle factors — exercise, diet, sleep, smoking — are linked to a lower biological age.
• Takeaway: epigenetic clocks are valuable for research, but commercial tests often give fluctuating results for one person — read them with caution.