StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Evolutionary Theories of Aging and Longevity - Research Paper Example

Cite this document
Summary
Evolutionary Theories of Aging and Longevity The evolutionary theories of aging and longevity try to explain how living things try to avoid death or extinction. It should be noted no living things have the ability to overcome death. At the same time, all living things try to avoid death in their own ways…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER94.9% of users find it useful
Evolutionary Theories of Aging and Longevity
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Evolutionary Theories of Aging and Longevity"

Download file to see previous pages

This paper analyses some of the major evolutionary theories with respect to aging and longevity. Mutation accumulation theory was formulated by Sir Peter Medawar, a noted British professor of zoology and anatomy at the University of London who won the Nobel Prize in medicine (1960) for his work on acquired immunological tolerances” (Mutation Accumulation Theory of Aging). According to mutation accumulation theory; Aging is an inevitable result of the declining force of natural selection with age.

For example, a mutant gene that kills young children will be strongly selected against (will not be passed to the next generation) while a lethal mutation with effects confined to people over the age of 80 will experience no selection because people with this mutation will have already passed it to their offspring by that age. Over successive generations, late-acting deleterious mutations will accumulate, leading to an increase in mortality rates late in life (Gavrilov and Gavrilova, p.341). Mutation accumulation theory argues that the negative effects or adverse events originated at the time of evolution may decline as time goes on.

In other words, living things acquire more and more abilities to counter the adverse effects of evolution since the transfer of genes which causing adverse events may decline as reproduction goes on. For example, the epidemic diseases in the past are no more a threat to the current generation. This is because of the reduction in the transfer rate of genes responsible for such epidemic diseases to the upcoming generation from the generations in the past. Mutation accumulation theory believes that aging is caused by defective genes which may become hyperactive during the later stages of life.

For example, genetic diseases such as Huntington’s chorea may appear in the life of a person only at the final stages of his life. It should be noted that the genes which are causing this disease was present in the body of that person even at the time of his birth. However, such genes may not be active during early parts of his life and aging is the process which helps the activities of such genes. Antagonistic pleiotropy theory was formualted by George C Williams in 1957. Pleiotropic According to Antagonistic pleiotropy theory, “Late-acting deleterious genes may even be favoured by selection and be actively accumulated in populations if they have any beneficial effects early in life”(Gavrilov and Gavrilova, p.341). In normal circumstances, each gene may have only a single trait.

However, in certain circumstances, it may have more than one trait which usually refers as pleiotropy. Antagonistic pleiotropy theory believes that the same gene which is responsible for increased reproduction during the early parts of one’s life may cause aging during the later parts of his life. For example females loss fertility during later parts of their life even though they may have high rate of fertility during the early parts of their life. It should be noted that the same gene is responsible for both fertility and non-fertility.

The postulates of mutation accumulation theory and that of the Antagonistic pleiotropy theory are almost similar even though some differences are there. Antagonistic pleiotropy theory argues that the defective genes are kept in the gene pool whereas mutation accumulation theory point out that the defective genes will be accumulated as time goes on. If aging is a side effect of genes that have a

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Evolutionary Theories of Aging and Longevity Research Paper”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/biology/1449703-evolutionary-theories-of-aging-and-longevity
(Evolutionary Theories of Aging and Longevity Research Paper)
https://studentshare.org/biology/1449703-evolutionary-theories-of-aging-and-longevity.
“Evolutionary Theories of Aging and Longevity Research Paper”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/biology/1449703-evolutionary-theories-of-aging-and-longevity.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Evolutionary Theories of Aging and Longevity

Notions of Death and Aging

Some quarters, however suggest that age is a prediction of aging and death.... According to some quarters, aging and death are part of life.... According to some quarters, aging and death are part of life.... istorical BackgroundEvolutionary theories that are concerned with aging and life expectancy try to explain the differences that occur in different species.... However, some people feel that graceful aging and death is better than going through a lot of suffering associated with old age....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Why Women Live Longer than Men

Various theories explain the differences in longevity, but there is evidence of the theory of men being genetically more disposable than women.... Theoretically, aging results from the gradual accumulation of tiny faults and damages to cellular components like DNA and protein.... Recent hypotheses indicate that the Y gene is normally toxic and acts as a source for other gene products accelerating aging....
8 Pages (2000 words) Term Paper

Life in the Later Years

Evolutionary Theories of Aging and Longevity.... The first of these theories is programmed theory of aging.... The first of these theories is programmed theory of aging.... he second major category of aging theories is the error theory, which is represented by the phenomenon of wear and tear.... There are three sub-categories of this theory; the programmed longevity, which indicates… The second sub-category is the endocrine theory....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Is Evolution True

In the first chapter, Coyne talks about the basic conceptual framework on evolutionary theory and tries to clarify common misconceptions about the reality of science and how science works as well as the creationist misuse of the ‘theory'.... The paper “Is Evolution true?... ?? explains how new species split off from old existing lineages, the common features and differences of different species....
8 Pages (2000 words) Term Paper

Biological and psychological aging

This paper introduces some key areas of research into the biology and psychology of aging....  This paper offers a deeper understanding of the human aging process and presents the strides in the aging research process that have been made so far.... Understanding the aging process will help humanity understand and develop efficient measures regarding treatment of age-related diseases.... Throughout the centuries, scientists have developed theories to describe aging....
5 Pages (1250 words) Research Paper

Aging Biological Changes

"Aging Biological Changes" paper examines the symptoms of aging in humans, animals, and plants, reasons for aging, early theories, the accumulation mutation theory, the antagonistic pleiotropy theory, evolutionary aspects vs.... Other visible signs of aging are wrinkled skin, graying of hair or hair loss, loss of vision, hypermetropia, hot flashes (women), and impotence.... Symptoms of aging in animals resemble those in humans.... This is a direct outcome of the evolutionary processes of aging....
6 Pages (1500 words) Assignment

Theories of Media and Communication

In the paper “theories of Media and Communication,” the author will be discussing the issue of whether the media controls the people or the people influence the media.... However, the most well-known typology offered is by the authors of Four theories of Press.... This study presented by the authors of Four theories of Press is a milestone in the history of communication studies.... The media and communication theories can be found in several academic disciplines and in various research institutions....
16 Pages (4000 words) Research Paper

The Evolution of Ape and Man

ver the centuries, archaeologists, paleontologists, evolutionary biologists, naturalists and other scientists painstakingly searched for answers to prove Darwin's theory of evolution to include the claim that apes were a direct lineage of man.... This coursework "The Evolution of Ape and Man" presents some discussions on the issue of whether or not the statement: “man's ancestral lineage directly originated from the apes” was fully substantiated....
9 Pages (2250 words) Coursework
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us