(Nature) – Finding practical ways to analyse the state of a person’s immune system could guide treatment decisions and create opportunities for disease prevention.

People of the same age can have strikingly distinct immune systems, shaped by genetics and by environmental and lifestyle factors, including air pollution, smoking, diet and past infections. Growing evidence suggests that variation in the immune system’s ‘biological age’ — the rate at which it has aged, which is distinct from chronological age — matters for health. This variation has been linked to neurodegeneration, cancer and mortality risk. (Read More)