Progress in control of aging was very slow in the early years of gerontological research, a few decades ago. Research ers did not understand why various procedures (such as dietary restriction in young rats) or substances (like RNA) prolonged animal life spans. The discoveries of several mechanisms of aging have vastly accelerated the rate of […]
Read more The Blind Men and the Elephant; or, The Many Mechanisms of Aging III
“’Tis clear enough the Elephant Is very like a tree!” The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear, Said, “E’en the blindest man Can tell what this resembles most; Deny the fact who can: This marvel of an Elephant Is very like a fan!” The Sixth no sooner had begun About the beast to grope […]
Read more The Blind Men and the Elephant; or, The Many Mechanisms of Aging II
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed. —Albert Einstein Most biological experiments […]
Read more Prolonging Life in the Laboratory; or, Why Animal Experiments Are Relevant to Humans
In scientifically sound studies, researchers allow for variations by using a device called controls. Controls are experimental subjects who are exposed to exactly the same conditions as the test subjects—those receiving treatment— except that they do not receive the treatment being tested. Ideally, this should be the only variable between control and experimental groups. Controls […]
Scientists, as-well as the lay public, have differing views of the problems of aging. Most scientists specializing in gerontology study old people and their behavior. Only about 10 percent of American gerontologists funded by the government are engaged in research on biological aging processes. This proportion represents a fundamental division in this science. Funds used […]