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[MR]

All:

CRONie EK wrote:
> >
CRONie LM wrote:
> >
> >
>> >>Aging is No Longer an Unsolved Problem in Biology
>> >>ROBIN HOLLIDAY
>> >> the biological basis for aging
>> >>became very much clearer. It became apparent that the best strategy for
>> >>animals' survival was to develop to an adult, but not to invest resources in
>> >>maintaining the body, or soma, indefinitely.

> >
> > This strikes me as pretty general. It adds up to saying:
> > 1. Maintenance is expensive
> > 2. There are a variety of individual systems, each of which
> > requires maintenance.
> >
> > This is not exactly news to anyone who has ever owned a house.

Right -- a metaphor used extensively in (1).
> >
> > Personally, I'll consider aging to no longer be an unsolved problem
> > when biologist can elucidate which systems require maintenance and how.

Then aging is no longer an unsolved problem:

http://www.sens.org

(Especially:
http://www.sens.org/just7.htm

I'd say it's only really no longer a solved problem when we've actually
solved it as a *biomedical* problem, not just theoretically or
conceptually . But of course, see the same links (and (1-3) among others).

> >
> > BTW, it seems to me that reproduction isn't the only activity
> > competing with maintenance for resources. Avoiding predators also
> > comes to mind

He does mention "predators, disease, starvation, and drought " in the
abstract; I IMAGINE that the full text prob mentions investment in
adaptation to manage these too. You're right IAC, of course.


1. de Grey AD. An engineer's approach to the development of real
anti-aging medicine. Sci Aging Knowledge Environ. 2003 Jan
8;2003(1):VP1. Review. PMID: 12844502 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
http://www.sens.org/focusPP.pdf

2. de Grey AD, Ames BN, Andersen JK, Bartke A, Campisi J, Heward CB,
McCarter RJ, Stock G.
Time to talk SENS: critiquing the immutability of human aging.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2002 Apr;959:452-62; discussion 463-5.
PMID: 11976218 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
http://www.gen.cam.ac.uk/sens/manu12.pdf

3. de Grey AD. Challenging but essential targets for genuine anti-ageing
drugs. Expert Opin Ther Targets. 2003 Feb;7(1):1-5. PMID: 12556198
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher] http://www.gen.cam.ac.uk/sens/manu21.pdf