Active Genetics & Molecular Biology Brain & Nervous System

Building a time-resolved high-resolution map of age associated phenotypic, cellular and molecular changes in the mouse

Funder MRC (part of UKRI)
Recipient organisation Newcastle University
Funding £2.6M
Period Feb 2024 — Jan 2028

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

A mouse’s life is short enough to watch its tissues age in real time, and researchers plan to map every molecular and cellular change that happens along the way. This matters because most medical advances treat age-related diseases only after symptoms appear. Without a detailed reference of what healthy ageing looks like at the cellular level, scientists cannot easily tell which changes are normal and which signal the onset of disease. The mouse, with its two-year lifespan, lets researchers observe the entire ageing process in a practical timeframe. If the project succeeds, it will produce a public, high-resolution map of ageing in healthy mice. Researchers worldwide can then use that map as a baseline to test whether specific factors—such as diet, drugs, or genetic modifications—accelerate or slow ageing. The ultimate goal is to shift medicine from treating symptoms to preventing age-related decline before it begins. This is fundamental science. It does not deliver a treatment or diagnostic today. But by providing a systematic reference for ageing, it lays the groundwork for future studies that could one day extend healthy human lifespan.

View original technical description
"Over the last 60 years, global average life expectancy has increased by more than 20 years (https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy). Countless medical breakthroughs have driven such progress. However, most of these tackle the symptoms rather the causes of age-associated diseases. What if we could identify those at risk of developing chronic age-related conditions before they present in the clinic? What if we shift the focus from treatment to prevention? This would revolutionise healthcare and transform our twilight years into a healthy period of our lives. To achieve this, we need to generate a map of the changes that occur in our tissues and cells as we age. With an average life expectancy of 2 years, the mouse is a powerful model system to study human ageing in a timely manner. We aim to map the changes that occur with ageing in healthy mice and use this as a reference to study the impact of factors that are thought to accelerate or slow ageing. We will make our reference map public so researchers around the world can use it as a reference in their studies on ageing. This project will bring us closer to our ambition of extending healthy living in our twilight years."

View the original record at the funder ↗

Researchers

Anne Ferguson-Smith (Co-Investigator)Laura Greaves (Principal Investigator)Masashi Narita (Co-Investigator)Michelle Linterman (Co-Investigator)Walid Khaled (Co-Investigator)

Related Research

Grants with similar aims, by meaning.

The digital ageing map: development of web tools for the integration and visualization of age-related changes at various biological levels
The environmental drivers of senescence: an experimental test in the wild
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A new Drosophila-based strategy to study mitochondrial transport and neuronal ageing in vivo.

Original classification

Intramural

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