The nature of aging: What long-lived animals can teach us about aging

Isaac Newton once said, “If I have seen farther, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.” Today’s biomedical researchers might put a modern spin on Newton’s observation by saying something like this: If they have come further in understanding the mechanisms of human biology, it is because they have stood on the shoulders of a few lowly animals.

Indeed, much of our knowledge of the aging process comes from a menagerie of creatures that would seem, at first glance, incapable of shedding any light on the subject of Homo sapiens. And yet most of what scientists know about the genetics and biochemistry of human aging comes from a relatively small number of laboratory animals.

The question remains, however, whether human aging can ever be fully understood by studying organisms that (1) are not long-lived to begin with and (2) are several hundred generations removed from life in normal wild conditions. It is this question that inspires Steven Austad, a professor at the Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies and the Department of Cellular and Structural Biology, University of Texas Health Science Center, to include a variety of non-traditional animals in his research into the aging process.

Dr. Austad participated recently in the Why We Age scientist-luncheon series organized by the American Federation for Aging Research. His presentation at the event focused on what the natural world can teach us about improving health and extending life. Here, Dr. Austad talks to Infoaging in more detail about this theme and what the near future of aging research may reveal.

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