title: Life-prolonging measures for a dead theory?
abstract: In a recent review article, Selman and colleagues (Trends Ecol Evol 27:570-577, 2012) discuss the status quo of the oxidative stress theory of aging (OSTA) and how it links to life history evolution. They suggest that the OSTA should be tested in wild populations which might show effects masked in laboratory settings. We disagree with their propositions for several reasons. We argue that there is increasing evidence that reactive oxygen species (ROS) are not causally linked with aging and that ROS do not play a straightforward role in shaping life history evolution. We propose that laboratory animals and semi-wild populations rather than wild animals are suited best to test any hypothesized effect of reactive oxygen species. This is because data from controlled manipulative experiments rather than observational correlations are preferred to solve this issue. In addition, nonconventional model organisms will be useful in answering the question how relevant the OSTA could be for life history evolution.
authors: Research Group of Functional Genomics and Proteomics, Department of Biology, KU Leuven, Naamsestraat 59, 3000, Leuven, Belgium, Uli.Ernst@bio.kuleuven.be.
authors: Ulrich R
authors: UR
authors: Ernst
authors: Wouter
authors: W
authors: De Haes
authors: Dries
authors: D
authors: Cardoen
authors: Liliane
authors: L
authors: Schoofs
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008018:Life Cycle Stages / Q000502:physiology*; D008322:Mammals / Q000502:physiology*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology*
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