🇸🇮 Slovenian, 8 October 2026, cell aging
AI System Accurately Identifies Age of Mouse Blood Stem Cells on 3D Images
The system, ChromAgeNet, achieved a 68% accuracy rate in distinguishing between young and old cells.
Researchers from Barcelona have developed an AI tool that can identify the age of blood stem cells based on 3D images of their nuclei. The system, ChromAgeNet, analyzes the spatial distribution of chromatin, DNA, and proteins in the cell nucleus. It has been trained on 3D images of young and old mouse blood stem cells and achieved a 68% accuracy rate in distinguishing between the two.
The system’s accuracy is based on the observation that chromatin is more compact and organized at the edge of the nucleus in young cells, while it is more dispersed in old cells. ChromAgeNet has been tested on post-mitotic cells exposed to various epigenetic compounds, and it has shown promise in identifying changes in chromatin that are similar to those found in young cells.
The researchers plan to adapt the system to human blood stem cells and warn that further development and validation are needed before it can be used clinically.