Evolutionary Biology of Aging

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Oxford University Press, 27 окт. 1994 г. - Всего страниц: 240
This unique book looks at the biology of aging from a fundamentally new perspective, one based on evolutionary theory rather than traditional concepts which emphasize molecular and cellular processes. The basis for this approach lies in the fact that natural selection, as a powerful determining force, tends to decline in importance with age. Many of the characteristics we associate with aging, the author argues, are more the result of this decline than any mechanical imperative contained within organic structures. This theory in turn yields the most fruitful avenues for seeking answers to the problem of aging, and should be recognized as the intellectual core of gerontology and the foundation for future research. The author ably surveys the vast literature on aging, presenting mathematical, experimental, and comparative findings to illustrate and support the central thesis. The result is the first complete synthesis of this vital field. Evolutionary biologists, gerontologists, and all those concerned with the science of aging will find it a stimulating, strongly argued account.

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1 The Evolutionary Theory of Aging
3
2 Observation of Aging
17
3 Experimental Tests of the Evolutionary Theory of Aging
39
4 Genetic Mechanisms for the Evolution of Aging
62
5 Comparative Biology of Aging
79
6 An Evolutionary Perspective on Organismal Theories of Aging
99
7 An Evolutionary Perspective on Cellular and Molecular Theories of Aging
126
8 The Future of Gerontology
160
BIBLIOGRAPHY
187
AUTHOR INDEX
211
SUBJECT INDEX
217
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Стр. 17 - The bold structure of its theories rises, as it were, above a swamp. It is like a building erected on piles. The piles are driven down from above into the swamp, but not down to any natural or "given" base ; and when we cease our attempts to drive our piles into a deeper layer, it is not because we have reached firm ground. We simply stop when we are satisfied that they are firm enough to carry the structure, at least for the time being.
Стр. 4 - ... established as the regular course of things, and thus we have the origin of old age, decay, and death ; for it is evident that when one or more individuals have provided a sufficient number of successors they themselves, as consumers of nourishment in a constantly increasing degree, are an injury to those successors. Natural selection therefore weeds them out, and in many cases favours such races as die almost immediately after they have left successors.
Стр. 17 - The empirical basis of objective science has thus nothing 'absolute' about it. Science does not rest upon solid bedrock. The bold structure of its theories rises, as it were above a swamp. It is like a building erected on piles. The piles are driven down from above into the swamp, but not down to any natural or 'given' base; and if we stop driving the piles deeper, it is not because we have reached firm ground.
Стр. 6 - ... of an organism are adapted to its environment. Assuming for the moment that these conclusions are valid, let us ask how the duration of life of any given species can have been determined by their means. In the first place, in regulating duration of life, the advantage to the species, and not to the individual, is alone of any importance. This must be obvious to any one who has once thoroughly thought out the process of natural selection. It is of no importance to the species whether the individual...
Стр. 5 - ... in size. The deficiency of < nourishment would lead to parts of the organism not being renewed ; they would become fixed, and liable to more or less slow decomposition as dead parts within a living body. The smaller organisms would have a better chance of finding food, the larger ones less chance. That one which gave off several small portions to form each a new organism would have a better chance of leaving descendants like itself than one which divided equally or gave off a large part of itself....
Стр. 204 - Ruley, HE (1983) Adenovirus early region 1A enables viral and cellular transforming genes to transform primary cells in culture.
Стр. vii - In almost any other important biological field than that of senescence, it is possible to present the main theories historically, and to show a steady progression from a large number of speculative, to one or two highly probable, main hypotheses. In the case of senescence this cannot profitably be done. ... It is a striking feature of these theories (of senescence) that they show little or no historical development; they can much more readily be...
Стр. 63 - immortal' age distribution. It is by no means difficult to imagine a genetic endowment which can favour young animals only at the expense of their elders; or rather, at their own expense when they themselves grow old. A gene or combination of genes that promotes this state of affairs will under certain numerically definable conditions spread through a population simply because the younger animals it favours have, as a group, a relatively large contribution to make to the ancestry of the future population....
Стр. 11 - I hope, how it must be that the force of natural selection weakens with increasing age — even in a theoretically immortal population, provided only that it is exposed to real hazards of mortality.

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