The Grim Reaper factor

Novel genetic test shows: this is how old I really am

(Bild: Viacheslav Yakobchuk)

The biological clock - and not the birth certificate - shows our true age. While medicine is making quantum leaps in life expectancy research, we put it to the test with a simple saliva test and the latest DNA technology. The result is surprising.

The sun-drenched practice room in the Wilhelminian-style building in Vienna's Prinz-Eugen-Straße, directly opposite Belvedere Palace, appears to be infinitely high. The treatment table covered in white crepe paper on which I am to stretch out feels all the narrower. It smells of disinfectant, like a hospital. I'm a little scared.

Not because this test might reveal how many years I have left. As a syringe-phobe from the very beginning, I die a thousand deaths every time my blood is drawn.

Of course, the fear is unfounded. When Professor Johannes Huber (77) reaches for the needle in person and with a steady hand, the veins can be hidden no matter how much. The saliva sample is then given to his charming colleague in no time at all.

How old am I really? How old do others think I am? And above all: how long will I live? Questions upon questions that we have been asking ourselves since time immemorial - and to which there are now increasingly precise answers!