Perspectives of Homo sapiens lifespan extension: focus on external or internal resources?

Abstract

The nature of the selection factors underlying the evolution of aging remains controversial [1-3]. Many specialists in evolutionary gerontology support a set of ideas called the "evolutionary theory of aging" [1, 2]. This theory is based on the idea that the selection efficiency decreases with age. It is also assumed that vitality and fertility are high in youth at the cost of reduced fitness at later ages [4, 5]. An alternative view is that programmed aging and death may be favored by some kind of selection [3, 6-16]. A subsequent theoretical experiment called the "Fable about Fox and Hares" was suggested by one of the authors of this paper (VPS) [17]. Two young hares differing "intellectually" have equal chances to escape from a fox since both of hares are running faster than a www.aging-us.com

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