# Clonal hematopoiesis (CHIP)

Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) means one blood stem cell, carrying a driver mutation, has quietly expanded into a large clone. The usual mutated genes are DNMT3A, TET2, ASXL1, or JAK2. It happens in people with no blood cancer. It gets much more common with age, reaching about 10 to 20% in people over 70. Landmark work by Jaiswal and colleagues (2017) showed that CHIP carriers have about double the risk of heart events. Part of the reason: TET2-mutant clones push immune cells (macrophages) toward inflammation. CHIP also rewires how blood cells switch genes on and off. So it can throw off DNA-methylation age clocks and other blood-based aging markers. That makes it an important caveat when you read those results.

## Sources

- Jaiswal S, Natarajan P, Silver AJ, et al.. (2017). Clonal Hematopoiesis and Risk of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease. New England Journal of Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1701719
- Holstege H, Pfeiffer W, Sie D, et al.. (2014). Somatic mutations found in the healthy blood compartment of a 115-yr-old woman demonstrate oligoclonal hematopoiesis. Genome Research. https://doi.org/10.1101/gr.162131.113

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_Canonical: https://longevity-switzerland.com/en/glossary/clonal-hematopoiesis · Part of Longevity Cities · Updated 2026-06-22_