The Future of Aging and Longevity - Flipbook - Page 46
The New Science
of Aging:
Living Be琀琀er, Not Simply Longer
Sean P. Curran, PhD
Pinchas Cohen, MD
Professor and Vice Dean,
USC Leonard Davis School of
Gerontology
Dean, USC Leonard Davis
School of Gerontology and
Director, Ney Center for
Healthspan Science
or much of modern medicine, aging was
viewed as an unavoidable decline—a
gradual accumula琀椀on of diseases that
physicians could only treat a昀琀er they appeared.
That view is changing. Today, scien琀椀sts increasingly
see aging itself as a biological process that can be
measured, in昀氀uenced, and perhaps slowed.
The result is a fundamental shi昀琀 in the 昀椀eld of
geroscience. Rather than asking how long people
can live, researchers are asking a more prac琀椀cal
ques琀椀on: “How can we help people stay healthy for
as much of their lives as possible?” This concept,
healthspan, has become the de昀椀ning goal of aging
research. Instead of extending the 昀椀nal years of
life marked by frailty and chronic illness, scien琀椀sts
hope to delay the biological processes that give
rise to condi琀椀ons such as heart disease, diabetes,
demen琀椀a, and cancer in the 昀椀rst place.
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One of the biggest breakthroughs has been the
development of biological measures that es琀椀mate
how quickly a person ages. Unlike chronological
age, these “biological clocks” use pa琀琀erns of DNA
methyla琀椀on to es琀椀mate wear and tear accumulated
throughout the body. Studies have shown that
these epigene琀椀c clocks can predict future health,
disease risk, and mortality more accurately than
age alone.
These biomarkers are transforming clinical
research. Instead of wai琀椀ng decades to determine
whether an interven琀椀on prolongs life, scien琀椀sts
can now evaluate whether a treatment appears to
slow biological aging within a much shorter period.
That accelera琀椀on is expected to drama琀椀cally
increase the pace of discoveries.
At the same 琀椀me, a surprising group of
medica琀椀ons has emerged as poten琀椀al allies in
MIL K EN I N S T I T U T E | T H E FU T U RE O F AGI N G A N D LO N GEV I TY
