title: Programmed and altruistic ageing.
abstract: Ageing is widely believed to be a non-adaptive process that results from a decline in the force of natural selection. However, recent studies in Saccharomyces cerevisiae are consistent with the existence of a programme of altruistic ageing and death. We suggest that the similarities between the molecular pathways that regulate ageing in yeast, worms, flies and mice, together with evidence that is consistent with programmed death in salmon and other organisms, raise the possibility that programmed ageing or death can also occur in higher eukaryotes.
authors.affiliation: Andrus Gerontology Center and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, 3715 McClintock Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA. vlongo@usc.edu
authors.forename: Valter D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Longo
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mitteldorf
authors.forename: Vladimir P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Skulachev
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology*; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans; D004330:Drosophila; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae; D012474:Salmon; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*