Researchers at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging have developed an epigenetic clock that could predict an individual’s intrinsic capacity score, a composite score that is a measure of healthy aging. The clock, which has only limited overlap with other epigenetic clocks, could be “a surrogate for aging that can be used for clinical trials,” senior author David Furman told BioWorld. And even more basically, it could help address a basic conundrum: that aging is the major risk factor for most causes of death, but not itself a disease.