Senescence or biologicalaging is the gradual deterioration of functional characteristics in living organisms. The word senescence can refer to either cellular senescence or to senescence of the whole organism. Organismal senescence involves an increase in death rates and/or a decrease in fecundity with increasing age, at least in the latter part of an organism's life cycle.
The free radical theory of aging (FRTA) states that organisms age because cells accumulate free radical damage over time. A free radical is any atom or molecule that has a single unpaired electron in an outer shell. While a few free radicals such as melanin are not chemically reactive, most biologically relevant free radicals are highly reactive. For most biological structures, free radical damage is closely associated with oxidative damage. Antioxidants are reducing agents, and limit oxidative damage to biological structures by passivating them from free radicals.
The USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology is one of the seventeen academic divisions of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, focusing in undergraduate and graduate programs in gerontology,
Tomasz Jan Guzik is a Polish physician scientist. Since 2012, he has been the Regius Professor of Physiology at the University of Glasgow.
Louis J. Ignarro is an American pharmacologist. For demonstrating the signaling properties of nitric oxide, he was co-recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Robert F. Furchgott and Ferid Murad.
Alex Sevanian was an American pharmacologist.
Dame Kay Elizabeth Davies is a British geneticist. She is Dr Lee's Professor of Anatomy at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Hertford College, Oxford. She is director of the Medical Research Council (MRC) functional genetics unit, a governor of the Wellcome Trust, a director of the Oxford Centre for Gene Function, and a patron and Senior Member of Oxford University Scientific Society. Her research group has an international reputation for work on Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). In the 1980s, she developed a test which allowed for the screening of foetuses whose mothers have a high risk of carrying DMD.
Edward L. Schneider is a Professor of Gerontology at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, Professor of Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, with a joint appointment in biological sciences and molecular biology at the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
Valter D. Longo is an Italian-American biogerontologist and cell biologist known for his studies on the role of fasting and nutrient response genes on cellular protection aging and diseases and for proposing that longevity is regulated by similar genes and mechanisms in many eukaryotes. He is currently a professor at the USC Davis School of Gerontology with a joint appointment in the department of Biological Sciences as well as serving as the director of the USC Longevity Institute.
Madhu Sudan Kanungo was an Indian scientist in the field of gerontology and neuroscience as well as a teacher of molecular biology and biochemistry. He is known for his theories on how gene expression changes with age and the role of this phenomenon in ageing, which is a widely accepted as "Gene expression theory of Aging". In recognition of his contributions, he was awarded India's fourth highest civilian award, Padma Shri in 2005. He held the post of BHU Emeritus professor in zoology at the Banaras Hindu University and was also the Chancellor, Nagaland University till his death.
Sean Curran is a professor in Gerontology at the USC Davis School of Gerontology with joint appointments in Molecular and Computational Biology. He studies molecular genetics of healthspan and longevity.
Bob G. Knight, is the former associate dean of the USC Davis School of Gerontology, the Merle H. Bensinger Professor of Gerontology and Psychology and the director of the Tingstad Older Adult Counseling Center. He is best known for research and theory development on cross-cultural issues in stress and coping during family caregiving for dementia and also for theory and scholarship on adapting psychotherapy for work with older adults.
Pinchas Cohen is the dean of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, holds the William and Sylvia Kugel Dean's Chair in Gerontology and serves as the executive director of the Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center.
Henry Jay Forman is both Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry at the University of California, Merced. and Research Professor Emeritus of Gerontology at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. He is a specialist in free radical biology and chemistry, antioxidant defense, and pioneered work in redox signaling including the mechanisms of induced resistance to oxidative stress.
The British Society for Research on Ageing (BSRA) is a scientific society which promotes research to understand the causes and effects of the ageing process. The BSRA encourages publication and public understanding of ageing research and holds an annual scientific meeting. Many notable scientists with an interest in ageing are either past or current members of the organisation, which has exerted a marked influence on ageing research within the United Kingdom and internationally.
Aleksandra Filipovska is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia, heading a research group at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research. Specializing in biochemistry and molecular biology, she has made contributions to the understanding of human mitochondrial genetics in health and disease.
Arlan Richardson is the Professor of Geriatric Medicine and the Donald W. Reynolds Endowed Chair of Aging Research at OUHSC and Senior VA Career Scientist at the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center. His research interests include Calorie Restriction and Aging, Oxidative Stress, and Molecular Biology of Aging.
Holly Brown-Borg is an American biologist and biogerontologist best known for her research on the regulation of lifespan by growth hormone. She is the Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology, Physiology & Therapeutics at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Steven J. Fliesler is an American biochemist and cell biologist, whose research has focused on how lipid metabolism supports the normal structure and function of the vertebrate retina. He currently is the Meyer H. Riwchun Endowed Chair Professor of Ophthalmology and Vice-Chair/Director of Research in the Department of Ophthalmology, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. In 2014, he became a UB Distinguished Professor, and in 2018 was promoted to the rank of SUNY Distinguished Professor. He is the author or coauthor of more than 150 publications, including peer-reviewed scientific/biomedical journal articles, books and book chapters.
The mitochondrial theory of aging has two varieties: free radical and non-free radical. The first is one of the variants of the free radical theory of aging. It was formulated by J. Michel in 1980 and was developed in the works of A. V. Linnan (1989). The second was proposed by A. N. Lobachev in 1978.
