Department of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Tiernan Hall 365, Newark, NJ 07102, USA.
Department of Anthropology and Laboratories of Analytical Biology, National Museum of Natural History, MRC 112, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA.
Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Apr 30;25(9):4917. doi: 10.3390/ijms25094917.
Age estimation is a critical aspect of reconstructing a biological profile in forensic sciences. Diverse biochemical processes have been studied in their correlation with age, and the results have driven DNA methylation to the forefront as a promising biomarker. DNA methylation, an epigenetic modification, has been extensively studied in recent years for developing age estimation models in criminalistics and forensic anthropology. Epigenetic clocks, which analyze DNA sites undergoing hypermethylation or hypomethylation as individuals age, have paved the way for improved prediction models. A wide range of biomarkers and methods for DNA methylation analysis have been proposed, achieving different accuracies across samples and cell types. This review extensively explores literature from the past 5 years, showing scientific efforts toward the ultimate goal: applying age prediction models to assist in human identification.
年龄估算是法医学中重建生物特征的一个关键方面。人们研究了许多生物化学过程与年龄的相关性，研究结果使得 DNA 甲基化为成为一种很有前途的生物标志物。近年来，DNA 甲基化作为一种表观遗传修饰，在犯罪学和法医人类学中建立年龄估计模型方面得到了广泛研究。表观遗传钟分析了个体随着年龄增长而发生超甲基化或低甲基化的 DNA 位点，为改进预测模型铺平了道路。已经提出了广泛的生物标志物和 DNA 甲基化分析方法，在不同样本和细胞类型中达到了不同的准确性。这篇综述广泛探讨了过去 5 年的文献，展示了科学界为实现最终目标所做的努力：应用年龄预测模型来协助进行人类识别。
