What causes ageing: the "Hallmarks of Ageing"
Ageing is caused by only five biological processes
Although ageing has been linked to a host of diseases, scientists have surprisingly found that ageing itself is caused by only five core molecular processes. These processes are called the primary hallmarks of ageing (see figure).
These hallmarks all occur during normal ageing. If they accelerate, they cause us to age faster. However, if we intervene therapeutically and improve them (e.g. by modifying our environment or with medicines), ageing could potentially be slowed, halted, or even reversed.
Ageing research seeks to understand the hallmarks of ageing
We closely examine the primary hallmarks of ageing to understand ageing from the ground up. This would allow us to intervene early in the ageing process before age-related diseases break out. The hope is that this will extend the amount of time we spend in good health and allow us to age healthily. Understanding ageing could also help us develop new therapies to treat all age-related diseases at their root.
The copyright for this text is held by the Centre for Healthy Ageing and Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) gGmbH.
Authors: Vanessa Kellner (PhD), Cheryl Li (PhD), Samantha Schmaul (PhD) and Ralf Dahm (PhD).
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