The accumulative waste theory of aging, also known as the waste accumulation or garbage accumulation theory of aging, proposes that molecules damaged by oxidation and their by products (e.g., aged collagen, damaged enzymes), and damaged mitochondria (organelles responsible for cellular energy production) accumulate in postmitotic (non dividing cells) causing dysfunction, toxicity, aging, and cell death (see Error Catastrophe Theory of Aging).

There are several mechanisms by which garbage accumulation affects cells. (more…)

In past decades, the traditional understanding of education, which was exclusively oriented toward formal learning in childhood and young adulthood, has been broadened to the concept of lifelong learning. Different versions of this concept have in common the idea that learning in different phases of human life span, (more…)

Although we have not identified the genes controlling human life span, there is a genetic element called a telomere that clearly regulates the replicative life span of human cells in culture. A telomere is a simple DNA sequence that is repeated many times, located at the tips of each chromosome. Telomeres are not genes, but they are needed for the proper duplication of the chromosomes in dividing cells. (more…)

Aging theories cover the biochemical, genetic, and physiological properties of a typical organism, and the way these properties change with time. Genetic theories deal with speculations regarding the identity of aging genes, accumulation of errors in the genetic machinery, programmed senescence, and telomeres. Biochemical theories are concerned with energy metabolism, generation of free (more…)