How scientific progress is changing our understanding of the biology of aging (opens in new tab)

As recently as the mid-20th century, aging was described by Nobel Prize laureate Peter Medawar as "an unsolved problem in biology." Today, scientists can analyze the activity of thousands of genes in individual cells, identify genetic variants associated with longevity, study molecular pathways affecting lifespan, and estimate biological age using epigenetic clocks. Experimental therapies using senolytics—compounds that eliminate some senescent cells—have also emerged. Paradoxically, however,...