Researchers report a method--the Pediatric-Buccal-Epigenetic (PedBE) clock--for estimating age in children aged 20 years or younger, based on DNA methylation patterns in cheek epithelial cells; the authors found that deviations between PedBE age and chronological age were associated with gestational age and autism spectrum disorder, suggesting that the PedBE clock might be useful for epigenetic studies of child development.
Article #18-20843: "The PedBE clock accurately estimates DNA methylation age in pediatric buccal cells," by Lisa M. McEwen et al.
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences