The Spring 2014 cover story of UW Medicine magazine, “Exploring Why We Age”, features the work of UW Healthy Aging and Longevity Research Institute Director, Matt Kaeberlein, Ph.D.
Decades of wear and tear — that’s the age-old explanation for common afflictions of aging: creaking joints, wrinkling skin, weakening muscles, slowing mental processes. Over millennia, people have sought methods to counter infirmities and boost longevity, mostly with uncertain effect.
Recent studies, however, show that aging is not caused only by wear and tear. Rather, it is also a fundamental biological process, influenced by specific functional pathways conserved across at least 600 million years of evolution. These discoveries could upend prevailing concepts of aging and longevity — and the diseases associated with aging, such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers like UW Medicine’s Matt Kaeberlein, Ph.D., are at the forefront of this new science, the biology of aging. Their objective? To promote not just a long life, but lifelong well-being.
