Yes, in Principle Aging can be Controlled and Altered to a Large Degree

The popular science article I'll point out here is written from a programmed aging point of view, in which - to simplify greatly - epigenetic change is considered to be the root cause of aging, changing the operation of cellular metabolism so as to generate damage, dysfunction, and death. One of the authors maintains a blog, and you'll find much more on his take on programmed aging there. I consider the opposite view to be more plausible, that the root cause of aging is accumulated damage, produced as a side-effect of the normal operation of metabolism, and that where we observe epigenetic changes in aging, they are a response to rising levels of damage. Placing this crucial difference to one side for one moment, the article below does makes an entirely valid point, which is that the enormous evolved variation in life histories in the natural world - in the pace and character of aging and species longevity - indicates that it is in principle possible to engineer a radically different human metabolism in order to create individuals who undergo slower aging, and down the line that sort of approach could be used to produce negligibly senescent or even ageless branches of humanity. Why Aging Isn't Inevitable Humans age gradually, but some animals do all their aging in a rush at the end of life, while others don't age at all, and a few can even age backward. The variety of aging patterns in nature should be a caution sign to anyone inclined to generalize - particul...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Of Interest Source Type: blogs