Mariia Pavlova
Department of Biology: Brooklyn College
BIOL 3007W: Evolution
Dr. Tony Wilson
10/11/2022
Evolution of aging
How can we live forever
Introduction:
Evolution of Aging is a fascinating topic. The ultimate reward for humanity would be to finally figure out what makes us mortal. What if it’s possible to reverse senescence in eukaryotes. What if geneticist can figure out this puzzle. When I turned thirty- it hit me, I never have time for anything. There are simply not enough hours in a day. But why do we age, why when I finally starting to figure out what I want to do in life, and get a grip on how to carry myself through day-to-day routine, my body constantly reminds me that I am not sixteen anymore. Marketing companies target people like me by luring us into buying “natural supplements to boost energy, fight free radicals, pollution, and slow down aging”. Can a human body be “fixed”, and mechanism of aging reversed, or better yet, never occurs.
I was very close to my grandmother, and she fell really sick towards the end of her life, and at some point she told me that she prefers no life rather than what she had. That woman rigorously followed all tips and tricks from a variety of non-traditional medicine journals on how to live long and healthy life. She experimented with cold showers, exercised every day, did stretching, ate raw beets, and drank her stinky herbal teas. In the end, she still believed that all of those manipulations helped her. The more education on the topic of aging I gain, the more faith in science I have and less in placebo tinctures. Losing my grandmother impacted me. As I read in many of my fiction books, there is a possibility of living long and healthy life, building medical equipment that will fix any damage, cancer, stroke in a matter of minutes. One can dream to live long enough with the high quality of life. There is a correlation of things describe in the old fiction books to come true. Therefore, starting my own research on whether we can live forever, was no-brainer.
Outline:
– Species that live the longest. Arctica islandica: the longest lived non colonial animal known to science( ~400 years).
– “Immortal jellyfish” Turritopsis dohrnii that potentially can live forever if avoids predation.
– Evolution of late-life fecundity in Drosophila melanogaster. Most research on how to prolong lifespan, increase fecundity, and avoid age-related diseases is based on Drosophila melanogaster.
– Longest living mammal.
Insights into the Evolution of Longevity from the Bowhead Whale Genome. Genes involved in cancer resilience, DNA repair found in Drosophila melanogaster, bowhead whale, and naked mole rat.
– Longest living rodent. The naked mole rat that lives up to 30 years. In addition to delayed ageing, they are resistant to both spontaneous cancer and experimentally induced tumorigenesis. Their proteome does not show age-related susceptibility to oxidative damage or increased ubiquitination.
– Which genes are involved in senescence. Discuss which genes/ mechanisms are involved in cell aging.
– Theory of telomeres. Trade-offs between tumorigenesis and longevity of lifespan.
– Stem Cells to reverse aging.
– Conclusion. If human genome can implement every possible mechanism to slow down aging and enhance mechanism for oxidative stress repair, lower and reverse tumorigenesis, can we live “forever”?
Primary sources:
EUN BAE KIM, XIAODONG FANG, SUN HEE YIM, XIANG ZHAO, KASAIKINA, M. V., STOLETZKI, N., CHUNFANG PENG, POLAK, P., ZHIQIANG XIONG, KIEZUN, A., YABING ZHU, YUANXIN CHEN, FUSHAN, A. A., KRYUKOV, G. V., QIANG ZHANG, PESHKIN, L., LAN YANG, BRONSON, R. T., BUFFENSTEIN, R., … PENGCHENG YANG. (2011). Genome sequencing reveals insights into physiology and longevity of the naked mole rat. Nature (London), 479(7372), 223–227. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10533
Markov, A. V., Barg, M. A., & Yakovleva, E. Y. (2018). Can Aging Develop as an Adaptation to Optimize Natural Selection? (Application of Computer Modeling for Searching Conditions When the “Fable of Hares” Can Explain the Evolution of Aging). Biochemistry [Moscow], 83(12-13), 1504+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A597962129/PPNU?u=cuny_broo39667&sid=bookmark-PPNU&xid=e6776058
RAUSER, TIERNEY, J. J., GUNION, S. M., COVARRUBIAS, G. M., MUELLER, L. D., & ROSE, M. R. (2006). Evolution of late‐life fecundity in Drosophila melanogaster. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 19(1), 289–301. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2005.00966.x
Secondary sources:
Fabian, Daniel & Flatt, Thomas. (2011). The Evolution of Aging. Nature Education Knowledge. 3. 9.
Bhar G. C. (2016). In Search of Rationality in Human Longevity and Immortality. Mens sana monographs, 14(1), 187–213. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-1229.193083
Petralia, R. S., Mattson, M. P., & Yao, P. J. (2014). Aging and longevity in the simplest animals and the quest for immortality. Ageing research reviews, 16, 66–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2014.05.003
Mitteldorf, J. (2018). Can Aging Be Programmed? Biochemistry [Moscow], 83(12-13), 1524+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A597962131/PPNU?u=cuny_broo39667&sid=bookmark-PPNU&xid=7320f1e4
Chang, Fan Weiwen, Pan Xinghua, & Zhu Xiangqing. (2022). Stem cells to reverse aging. Chinese Medical Journal, 135(8), 901–910. https://doi.org/10.1097/CM9.0000000000001984
Ridgway, & Richardson, C. A. (2010). Arctica islandica: the longest lived non colonial animal known to science. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, 21(3), 297–310. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-010-9171-9