Leiden University Scholarly Publications

Persistent URL of this record https://hdl.handle.net/1887/31591

In Collections

This item can be found in the following collections:

Wensink, M.J. (2015)

The evolution of ageing : concepts, causation and calculus

Doctoral Thesis
The evolution of ageing is a field flush with misconceptions, misunderstandings, and hiatuses. In this thesis I address the most important misunderstanding and misconceptions, and develop new theory to fill the gaps. This work directly leads to the restatement of the central question in the evolutionary theory of ageing. Rather than evaluating evolutionary forces in models that are at best weakly rooted in (patho-) physiological mechanisms, usually phrased in terms of __age-specific genes__ that are not further specified, as is the current practice, the most pressing question becomes why an organism cannot, or does not, do in itself what it is perfectly capable of doing outside itself in the form of reproduction, namely producing a perfectly healthy __young__ organism. Evolutionary forces cannot answer this question. If anything, this is a mechanistic question. I suggest investigating __the evolution of unretainability__: why and how has our form of life evolved, in which it is...Show moreThe evolution of ageing is a field flush with misconceptions, misunderstandings, and hiatuses. In this thesis I address the most important misunderstanding and misconceptions, and develop new theory to fill the gaps. This work directly leads to the restatement of the central question in the evolutionary theory of ageing. Rather than evaluating evolutionary forces in models that are at best weakly rooted in (patho-) physiological mechanisms, usually phrased in terms of __age-specific genes__ that are not further specified, as is the current practice, the most pressing question becomes why an organism cannot, or does not, do in itself what it is perfectly capable of doing outside itself in the form of reproduction, namely producing a perfectly healthy __young__ organism. Evolutionary forces cannot answer this question. If anything, this is a mechanistic question. I suggest investigating __the evolution of unretainability__: why and how has our form of life evolved, in which it is mechanistically impossible to bring ageing to a halt, and what are the responsible mechanistic constraints?Show less
Biogerontology
Gerontology
Life history analysis
Senescence
Ageing
Evolution
All authors
Wensink, M.J.
Supervisor
Westendorp, R.G.J.; Baudisch, A.
Qualification
Doctor (dr.)
Awarding Institution
Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden University
Date
2015-01-27