This Algorithm Guesses Your Biological Age Just by Scanning Your Face

It can be used as a diagnostic tool to determine conditions that might cause aging before your time

A team at the Shanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences has created a computer algorithm that can guess a person's biological age just by scanning his or her face. Biological age, or your "true age" is the condition of one's body as indicated by certain biomarkers, as opposed to your ordinary chronological age. (For example, if a person is 40 but has the body of a 55-year-old because of years of drug abuse or a serious illness.)

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The scientists created a composite of facial scans from volunteers of all ages to serve as a baseline for comparison. The computer looks for biological aging markers, like tighter skin or the width between the nose and mouth, and then compares them to the facial composites to make an accurate guess on biological age.

This is more than just a neat party trick. It could also help doctors diagnose disease. For example, if a person appears to be considerably older than they really are, a doctor might look for something to explain that, whether it's a genetic disorder or a lifestyle issue. As such, the creators hope it could be used as a preventative tool. The team is working on an app that would make these scans easy and inexpensive for doctors to perform in their offices.

Source: Nature Communications via Gizmodo

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