Welcome to senescence.info!An educational and information resource on the science of aging |
"The knowledge that every ambition is doomed to frustration at the hands of a skeleton have never prevented the majority of human beings from behaving as though death were no more than an unfounded rumor."
Aldous Huxley
Aging, or senescence, is the major cause of suffering, disease, and death in modern times. With the worldwide graying of the population, we are now aging for a longer period of time than ever before. Gerontology, and its sub-field biogerontology in particular, is the science that studies the aging process to prevent age-related disease and degeneration, preserve health, and prolong human life. senescence.info aims to highlight the importance of research on aging and give an overview of current knowledge on the biology and genetics of aging, including anti-aging therapies, models and theories of aging. The most ambitious, even if distant, goal of gerontological research is to make aging optional, to develop a cure for aging, and the social implications of a radical increase in human lifespan due to scientific breakthroughs are also discussed.
senescence.info is aimed at a vast audience and includes tutorials for the non-specialist. Though of course my personal points of view are more prevalent, I try to mention different perspectives, even if I do not agree with them. Although senescence.info is not peer-reviewed, it is used as a reference by scientists and students in the field and recognized as a major knowledge and information website on the aging process; as evidence of its academic standing, senescence.info has been highlighted in Science (307:187), Aging Cell (8:65) and Nucleic Acids Research (41:D1027).
Keywords: Aging Biology, Aging Research, Geroscience, Longevity Science, Longevity Technology
Prologue
Why I study aging, what is on offer at senescence.info, my goals for this website, and how best to use its resources.
A Vision for senescence.info is an introduction to the problematic of aging that explains why I decided to dedicate my life to the study of aging.
Author Information; for more about me.
Integrative Genomics of Ageing Group; describes our lab's work.
Disclaimer, Copyright and Citation; it is boring but please read the legal stuff prior to accessing any information.
Visitor's Resources
An introduction to work done in the biology of aging, its importance, potential implications and career advice.
The Grandparents of Tomorrow is an introduction essay on aging and the ongoing efforts to cure aging, originally published in The Futurist.
Here's to Wine, Chocolate and a Long Healthy Life is another introduction essay on aging and genetics, originally published in The Conversation.
Anti-Aging Medicine presents and discusses the most popular life-extension and anti-aging treatments.
Caloric Restriction reviews and discusses CR facts and products trying to mimic its effects.
Should We Cure Aging? debates several myths about aging and whether we should aim to cure aging.
How to Become a Biogerontologist offers career advice for students.
Biology of Aging Books; book suggestions and reviews for students and researchers.
Gerontology Information
An overview of current research on the biology of human aging featuring key observations, concepts, and theories. Thanks to David Bahry, available is also a printer-friendly version (last updated in August 2013).
What Is Aging? defines the basic concepts in the study of longevity and aging.
Some Animals Age, Others May Not; a look at the diverse lifespans and aging phenotypes found in nature.
Comparative Biology of Aging presents trends found in comparative studies of aging.
The Evolutionary Theory of Aging debates the models and hypotheses put forward to explain how aging evolved.
Human Aging Model Systems introduces and discusses the different model organisms used to study human aging.
Cellular Senescence; cellular models of aging and the rationale behind them.
Telomeres and Telomerase presents the telomeres, their maintenance mechanisms, and their relation to human aging.
Is Aging Genetic or Is It Wear and Tear? discusses the genetic basis of human aging.
Why Do We Age? offers an overview of the predominant causal theories of aging.
Damage-Based Theories of Aging introduces and discusses theories of aging based on damage accumulation.
Programmed Theories of Aging introduces and discusses theories of aging based on programmed events.
Curing Aging and the Science of Immortality presents possible approaches to retard and reverse human aging.
Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence or SENS is a proposal to cure aging which is appraised here.
Godseed speculates how we will be able to change ourselves onto non-aging organisms.
Genomics of Aging
I am the principal investigator of the Integrative Genomics of Ageing Group at the University of Liverpool in the UK. Amongst other projects, we maintain the Human Ageing Genomic Resources, a series of tools and databases aimed at understanding the genetic basis of human aging.
GenAge is a curated database of genes related to aging in humans and in model organisms.
CellAge is a curated database of human genes associated with cellular senescence.
DrugAge is a curated database of compounds that modulate longevity in model organisms.
GenDR is the first database of dietary restriction-associated genes.
LongevityMap is the first database of human genetic variants associated with longevity.
AnAge is an aging-oriented animal database featuring over 4,000 species.
The Digital Ageing Atlas is the first centralized collection of aging changes and pathologies.
The Global Sphere
Cooperation and networking are keys to success.
How to Help Fight Aging offers ideas and suggestions on how to contribute to progress in gerontology.
Immortality and Society paints a picture of a world without aging and debates the consequences of a future cure for aging.
Bibliography; all the roughly 1,000 references cited in senescence.info.
Who's Who in Gerontology is a list of individuals and companies working on aging, longevity and related fields.
For the latest news, findings and papers on the biology of aging:
Follow @AgingBiology
Creation date: Circa 1997
Last modified: February 10, 2021
Thank you for visiting my website. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, ideas, comments or suggestions.
Copyright © 1997 - 2014, 2018, 2021 by João Pedro de Magalhães. All rights reserved.