RESEARCH AREAS
Start with a better question.
Seven ways into the science of aging. Explore the questions that define each area.
All research
Newest published first
13–24 of 27 articles
Why do a few cell families expand in ageing blood?
Some blood-forming cell families expand with age. A rising fraction of sequencing reads carrying a mutation, however, can reflect selection, changes in the blood-forming environment, or measurement…
- Variant trajectories and selectionModerate
- Growth models and predictionLimited
- Detection and life historyLimited
- Clinical riskModerate
- Intervention extrapolationNot yet determinable
Metformin: Do Metabolic Changes Improve Function in Older Adults Without Diabetes?
Metformin can alter metabolism and tissue molecular readouts. Whether those changes help older adults without diabetes walk faster or become stronger requires direct functional trials. Findings are…
- Molecules and methodsLimited
- Training adaptationModerate
- Clinical functionLimited
- Healthspan extrapolationNot yet determinable
Does lowering inflammation slow aging?
Some anti-inflammatory interventions reduce disease events in specific populations, but that does not establish a slower rate of whole-body aging. Target pathways, inflammatory measurements, clinical…
- Disease eventsModerate
- Pathways and mediationLimited
- Inflammatory measurementsLimited
- General slowing of agingNot yet determinable
Why are some people robust at 70 while others are frail?
Two people can reach 70 with very different health reserves. The frailty index (FI) summarizes part of that difference by adding scores for a set of health deficits and dividing by the number of…
- Index constructionLimited
- FI and mortalityModerate
- Composition at a given scoreLimited
- Temporal validationLimited
Does sleeping too little accelerate aging—and is too much sleep harmful too?
Sleep and mortality studies often show a U-shaped curve: people reporting short or long sleep have higher mortality than those reporting about seven hours. Several explanations fit that pattern…
- Reported sleep and mortalityModerate
- Reverse causation and healthLimited
- Bias simulationLimited
- Intervention and aging rateNot yet determinable
Protein Supports Muscle, Yet mTOR Inhibition Is Called Anti-Aging: Where Is the Contradiction?
Muscle synthesis after a meal, strength after months of training, and animal lifespan are different outcomes. Distinguishing them helps explain the apparent contradiction, without identifying an…
- Acute synthesisModerate
- Muscle mass over monthsModerate
- Human function and safetyLimited
- Timing and tissue mechanismsLimited
- Animal survivalModerate
- Human longevity translationNot yet determinable
Where Do Fasting's Extra Benefits Come From: Less Food, Meal Timing, or Longer Fasts?
Time-restricted eating can help some adults lose weight. Current trials cannot assign precise shares of benefit to reduced intake, meal timing, and fasting duration, or establish that these changes…
- Weight and adiposityModerate
- Timing and metabolismLimited
- Fasting durationNot yet determinable
- Safety and body compositionLimited
- Disease and lifespanNot yet determinable
Does Eating Less Extend Life?
In one study of genetically diverse female mice, median lifespan was 278 days longer under 40% caloric restriction than under unrestricted feeding. That result can be reproduced from…
- Survival under specific animal feeding regimensModerate
- Human metabolic markers and safetyModerate
- Human lifespanNot yet determinable
Partial reprogramming: what becomes younger—readouts, identity, or function?
Partial reprogramming can alter molecular readouts in cultured cells, but function, stability and human benefit require separate tests. Gill and colleagues’ 2022 maturation phase transient…
- Molecular readoutsLimited
- Cell identityLimited
- Cell functionLimited
- Stability and safetyNot yet determinable
Clearing Senescent Cells: When Could It Help or Harm?
Clearing senescent cells improves function or survival in some mouse models, but can also disrupt particular stages of tissue repair. The result depends on the cells, intervention, tissue and timing…
- Animal function and survivalModerate
- Human randomized skeletal evidenceLimited
- Attribution to tissue clearanceNot yet determinable
- Repair cost of clearanceModerate
- Human safetyLimited
Does Living Longer Mean Ageing More Slowly?
Longer life is a valuable outcome, but it does not by itself show that every organ ages more slowly. We reanalysed public ITP mouse data on function, body composition and pathology, and independently…
- Mouse survivalModerate
- Specific mouse functionLimited
- Selected pathologyLimited
- Attribution to overall ageing rateNot yet determinable
Rapamycin: the mouse lifespan effect is real. What is missing in humans?
Rapamycin extends survival in multiple cohorts of genetically heterogeneous mice, a result that deserves serious attention. Human trials have yet to connect that evidence to longer life or…
- Mouse survivalStrong
- Human functionLimited
- Human lifespan and long-term safetyNot yet determinable