Medical experts move towards identifying “biomarkers” of ageing, according to a new study published by Ageing Cell.

If scientists are able identify such markers in humans, they suggest it could provide the means for the scientific validation of anti-ageing therapies.

“This is the first evidence that physiological age can be predicted non-subjectively,” said lead study author Simon Melov.

“We were able to predict the ages of the animals 70 per cent of the time, which is far better than anything … done before,” the scientist added.

Meanwhile another team of researchers suggests it has gained an insight into how some people appear able to maintain extremely sharp powers of memory despite being aged in their 80s or older.

The experts from the Feinburg School of Medicine said such individuals’ brains were found to contain far fewer fibre-like tangles than those of other people who had aged in a more typical fashion.