DunedinPACE is an epigenetic clock that estimates how fast a person is aging right now, reported as a ratio of biological years per calendar year. A result of 1.00 means the body is accumulating roughly one year of wear for each year lived; 1.20 would mean about twenty percent faster. It is unusual among aging clocks because it does not output an age at all. Horvath, PhenoAge and GrimAge answer “how old does this biology look”; DunedinPACE answers “how quickly is it changing”. It was developed by Daniel Belsky and colleagues and published in 2022.
What it measures
The test itself is a blood sample. Like any other Epigenetic clock, it reads DNA methylation — the chemical tags sitting on the DNA — at a defined set of sites and feeds that pattern into an algorithm. What is unusual is the target the algorithm was trained on.
Most clocks were trained to guess calendar age, or to predict mortality. DunedinPACE was trained on measured physiological decline. In the Dunedin Study, a New Zealand birth cohort followed since the early 1970s, researchers repeatedly measured a panel of blood chemistry, organ function and fitness markers in the same people from age 26 into their mid-forties. For each person they fitted the slope of change across that panel — their personal pace of aging. DunedinPACE is the methylation signature that best predicts that slope from a single blood draw. The number is a proxy for two decades of tracked physiology, compressed into one measurement.
An earlier version, DunedinPoAm, used a shorter stretch of follow-up. The later model added years of data and kept only biomarkers that repeat well, so two samples from the same person tend to agree more closely than on some older clocks.
Typical values
Results come back as a ratio centered on 1, not as an age in years, and this is how the reading in DunedinPACE — the clock of the pace of aging is normally interpreted.
| Result | Reading | What it suggests |
|---|---|---|
| Below 1.0 | Under one biological year per calendar year | Aging more slowly than the reference average |
| About 1.0 | One biological year per calendar year | Average pace |
| Above 1.0 | Over one biological year per calendar year | Aging faster than the reference average |
There is no clinical cut-off and no diagnostic threshold. The spread between people is narrow — differences usually show up in the hundredths, not in whole units — so a small change between two tests can easily be measurement noise. Compare results only against your own earlier readings, from the same provider and the same version of the assay.
Why it matters for longevity
In cohort studies, a faster measured pace is associated with higher rates of death, chronic disease, disability, frailty and cognitive decline, and those associations appear well before old age. That is the practical appeal: a clock reporting rate rather than accumulated damage should, in principle, register a change in how you live sooner than one reporting an age.
The evidence stops short of a stronger claim. It has not been shown that lowering the ratio itself extends life or prevents disease. DunedinPACE is a research instrument and a risk marker, not a validated surrogate endpoint, and no regulator treats it as a clinical test.
What changes it
Because the output is a rate rather than an age, it is not anchored to your birth date and can be measured at any point in adult life. Smoking, obesity, poor cardiometabolic health and long-running social and economic adversity are all associated with a faster pace. Regular physical activity, a diet built on plants, fish, legumes and whole grains, and blood pressure and glucose kept in range travel with a slower one.
Two randomized trials have moved the reading. In CALERIE, sustained moderate calorie restriction slowed DunedinPACE compared with the control group. In DO-HEALTH, daily omega-3 slowed it alongside several other clocks. In both cases the effect was small, and what it means for how long or how well people live is unknown. Acute illness, recent infection and sample handling can also shift a result, so retest before acting on a surprise.
Related reading
- Epigenetic Clocks: Measuring Age from DNA
- What Biological Age Is and How to Measure It
- Caloric Restriction and Lifespan
- Omega-3 Slowed Biological Aging in the DO-HEALTH Trial
Disclaimer. This article is for information only and does not replace medical advice. Talk to a qualified clinician before changing anything about your health.