The immune clock starts earlier than we think ⏳🧬

A landmark Nature study shows that immune aging begins quietly in midlife — decades before clinical frailty.

Using >16M single-cell profiles and longitudinal vaccine responses, researchers found:

• Stable, early transcriptional drift in naïve & memory T cells

• A subtle TH2 shift that may weaken antiviral antibody quality

• Reduced IgG class-switching to repeat flu antigens (e.g., B/Phuket)

• No acceleration from CMV infection despite compositional shifts

The message?

Immune aging is gradual, not abrupt — and midlife may be the window for intervention.

Precision immunology will increasingly mean precision geroscience.