Biological Insights from Self-Perceived Facial Aging Data of the UK Biobank Participants

In 2019, a study was conducted using large-scale data from the UK Biobank to analyze the genetic factors associated with self-perceived facial aging. The study found significant over-representation of skin pigmentation and immune-related pathways correlated with facial aging. For males, hair loss was a highly significant category associated with self-reported facial aging. The study also confirmed the important role of genes coding for the extracellular matrix in aging. The results suggested that large-scale self-reported data on aging can be useful for understanding the underlying biology, identifying potential skin aging biomarkers, and advancing anti-aging skincare.