Borrowing Concepts from Particle Physics to Better Frame the Mechanisms of Aging

An interesting idea is put forward in this open access paper, aimed at producing a greater and more useful unity of thought about the processes of aging. It is certainly the case that the field lacks a common conceptual foundation to build upon when it comes to working towards a better understanding of the mechanisms of aging. Hence the many theories of aging, focusing on quite different areas of molecular biology and evolutionary biology, and the persistent debate over whether aging is an evolved epigenetic program of late life dysfunction (the minority position), or an accumulation of damage that falls outside selection pressure for repair or prevention (the majority position). We argue that some of the key principles of particle physics can be borrowed to study biological systems that age. Namely, these principles are: (a) Every interaction leads to a transformation of all interacting subjects. (b) Every process can be dissociated from the chronological time and considered as a sequence of discrete events. It is the order and the number of these events that predetermines the outcome, not time. (c) The threshold value is predetermined by a probability for a specific interaction to cause a specific transformation. An at-the-threshold event occurs not because of the accumulation of prior stimuli but because an increasing number of stimuli increased the probability of the observed event. These principles can help understand the nature of aging or other biologic...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs