Jesse Poganik

Stories

Transplanted hearts take on the biological age of their new host

As of September 2026: Led the heart-transplant biological-age study, now in preprint

A heart from an older donor appears to shed its age after transplant into a younger patient. Within months its DNA methylation pattern — a molecular measure of accumulated cellular wear — realigns to the recipient's biological age.

Updated Sep 28

Notable Quotes

The remarkable thing is that we found exactly the same effects that we saw in the mice. (to Nature)

from Transplanted hearts take on the biological age of their new host · Updated Sep 28

Some things are probably simply irreversible. (to Nature, on limits to age reassignment)

from Transplanted hearts take on the biological age of their new host · Updated Sep 28