01 / RESEARCH AREAS
Mechanisms of aging
The biology beneath the passing years. From cellular change to the whole organism.
Research in this area
Newest published first
13–24 of 29 articles
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
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
What does menopausal hormone therapy improve? Timing and longevity evidence
Menopausal hormone therapy can relieve some menopausal symptoms and reduce certain fractures. Those benefits do not directly establish slower ageing or longer life. Whether earlier initiation is…
- Arterial imagingModerate
- CognitionModerate
- Disease and composite outcomesModerate
- Overall mortalityModerate
- Observational inferenceLimited
Do species that accumulate mutations more slowly live longer?
In a 2022 comparison of mammalian intestinal crypts, the reported annual somatic substitution rate in mice was about 17 times the human rate. Longer-lived species had lower annual rates. That…
- Cross-species associationModerate
- Lifetime burden and mechanismLimited
- Perturbation and health outcomesLimited
Do GLP-1 Drugs Reduce Disease—or Slow Ageing?
Semaglutide reduced major cardiovascular events in the population enrolled in SELECT. Interpreting that result as broadly slower ageing requires additional evidence: whether benefits transfer to…
- Primary cardiovascular endpointStrong
- Mortality and mechanismLimited
- Cognitive evidenceLimited
- Safety and tolerabilityModerate
- General ageing and life-yearsNot yet determinable
Does blocking IL-11 extend life? Mouse survival, function and human evidence
Blocking IL-11 extended survival in one study of naturally ageing mice and improved frailty and body-mass-normalized grip in a separate cohort. Reanalysis of the individual mouse records supports the…
- Mouse survivalModerate
- Autopsy and mediationLimited
- Mouse functionModerate
- Mechanism attributionLimited
- Human translationNot yet determinable
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
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