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Seven ways into the science of aging. Explore the questions that define each area.
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13–24 of 45 articles
Why can aging muscle become more oxidative while function declines? Cardiolipin and compensation
An oxidative shift can compensate for mitochondrial damage without improving muscle function. A 2026 cardiolipin-depletion study demonstrates that separation: some muscles gain mitochondrial-content…
- Measurements and denominatorsModerate
- Depletion and cellular mechanismModerate
- Animal function and recoveryLimited
- Antioxidants and net effectsLimited
- Human function and healthspanNot yet determinable
Longer lipids with age: a causal change or a shift in lipid composition?
These source tables show relative remodeling within lipid classes in some tissues, which cannot be explained entirely by replacement between classes. But “longer species become relatively favored,”…
- Definitions and samplesModerate
- Age/intervention remodelingModerate
- Animal mechanism/lifespanLimited
- Genetics and membrane physicsLimited
- Human healthspan/applicationsNot yet determinable
Can senolytic CAR T cells selectively remove harmful cells? Target choice and the cost of persistence
Anti-uPAR CAR T cells have produced functional benefits in mice, including improvements in some intestinal barrier, regeneration and inflammation measurements. Treatment early in life can also have…
- Target and measurementModerate
- Mouse functionModerate
- Net value of persistenceNot yet determinable
- Target-related injuryModerate
- Human healthspanNot yet determinable
Why do senescent cells persist: target evasion or failure of immune clearance?
Persistent senescent cells can reflect changes in the target, immune cells and their shared environment. An October 2026 study connects chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) to all three: altered…
- CMA and clearance measurementsModerate
- Mechanisms between cellsModerate
- Source tables and cell specificityLimited
- Sustained clearance and feedbackNot yet determinable
- Human applications and lifespanNot yet determinable
Why can STING inhibition help while deleting cGAS worsens aging?
Blocking STING and deleting cGAS are different interventions. The former can reduce some inflammatory signals; the latter removes both a DNA-sensing enzyme and its noncatalytic functions. Mouse and…
- Interventions and multiple functionsModerate
- Mouse functional benefitsModerate
- Recorded lifespan and causalityLimited
- Nuclear functions and inflammatory mediationLimited
- Human applicationsNot yet determinable
Which senescent cells are we actually identifying? Do different markers describe the same state?
Measurements can complement one another, but “p16-positive,” “p21-positive,” “high senescence-signature score” and “harmful cells worth clearing” remain different descriptions. Our analysis of a…
- Detection definitionsModerate
- Multimodal predictionLimited
- External-study signature associationLimited
- State and functional referencesModerate
- Human clearance applicationsNot yet determinable
Are Longer Telomeres Always Better? Repair, Replication, and Cancer Risk
Longer telomeres may allow some cells to keep dividing, while also allowing cells that have acquired mutations to persist longer. Assessing whether that change is beneficial requires considering…
- Human genetics and familiesModerate
- Mouse survival and safetyLimited
- Human lifespan benefit in healthy peopleNot yet determinable
Can a Softer Environment Restore Regeneration in Aged Cells?
Whether aged cells become active again can depend on their surroundings. For oligodendrocyte progenitor cells involved in myelin repair, the stiffness of a culture material, the matrix they contact…
- Rodent cells and lesion modelsModerate
- Lasting regeneration and human functionNot yet determinable
Mitochondrial Damage: What Tissue Averages Can Hide
If only a small fraction of mitochondrial DNA in a muscle sample carries a large deletion, does that mean every part of the muscle is functioning normally? The answer depends on where those deletions…
- Human local distributionModerate
- Human age associationLimited
- Function and overall consequencesNot yet determinable
More Autophagy: Faster Clearance or Blocked Processing?
More cellular “cleanup vesicles” can mean two very different things: a cell may be moving more material, or processing further along the pathway may have slowed and vesicles are accumulating. A…
- Measurement and mechanismStrong
- Animal lifespanModerate
- Human carrier readoutsLimited
- Human health and longevityNot yet determinable
Can a blood test measure the age of individual organs?
A blood sample can provide information about organ state and future disease risk. Today's “organ ages,” however, are statistical readouts produced jointly by selected proteins, a model and a…
- Disease-risk associationsModerate
- Organ origin and functionLimited
- Comparability of individual readoutsLimited
- Intervention and life extensionNot yet determinable
When T-cell numbers persist, can immune recognition still narrow?
T-cell numbers, receptor sequence diversity and actual antigen responses are related but different quantities. Existing cells can expand to maintain a population while a few clones occupy more of it…
- Human molecular diversityModerate
- Composition and samplingModerate
- Mechanistic attributionLimited
- Function and lifespanLimited