The Evolution of Aging

Why do we age? This question has baffled scientists for 150 years and remains unresolved. Scientists disagree over even the general nature of aging. Is aging the result of fundamental limitations that apply to all living things, do we age because our bodies do not try harder not to age, or are organisms designed by nature or " programmed " to age because a limited lifespan conveys some evolutionary advantage? Amazingly, in the 21 st century, there is still scientific disagreement regarding this question. This issue has potentially enormous implications for medicine. If aging is the result of fundamental and unalterable forces of nature, then anti-aging medicine is impossible and anti-aging research is futile and foolish. If aging is dictated by a species-specific design, then research may well reveal means for altering the operation of the aging mechanism and thereby improve the treatment of many age-related diseases and conditions. This book provides a review of theories of biological aging including underlying evolution and genetics issues and describes recent discoveries and theories that overwhelmingly favor programmed aging and therefore suggest that increased research on aging mechanisms would be highly beneficial to public health. Acknowledgements The author wishes to thank the many people who helped with this book or provided helpful comments and suggestions regarding the underlying material including Joshua Mitteldorf Science Abstract: In 1882 Weismann formally proposed that programmed aging was an evolved characteristic, an adaptation of organism design, which had an evolutionary purpose. Darwin had previously suggested that aging was an evolved characteristic despite conflicts with Darwinian evolutionary mechanics. Many current theorists have discarded adaptive theories of aging using one or more of the following arguments: Some theorists consider it " impossible " that aging could be an adaptation because adaptive theory conflicts with their theory of natural selection. Others rejected adaptive theories because no propagation mechanism had been demonstrated that would provide for the evolution of a fitness-adverse trait such as aging. Finally, some doubt that aging has evolutionary utility. This book, written for a wide audience, presents arguments that refute all of these objections, concludes that programmed aging is the correct theory beyond a reasonable doubt, and provides a summary of modern programmed aging theories as well as an analysis of the potential public health implications of adaptive theories. I am often asked: " Why is digital communications theory important to genetics, evolution, and theories of biological aging? …