A Path to Solving Aging

Evolution has solved biological damage by replacement, at every scale. From proteins and organelles being recycled within cells, to bacteria sacrificing a daughter cell and damaged cells being cleared and replaced, all the way to the entire organism being deprioritized in favor of the germline. Repair is almost entirely reserved for DNA, the one molecule without a backup copy. In this talk, I argue that aging accumulates in biological layers that can’t be replaced and propose cellular/tissue replacement as a better bet than epigenetic reprogramming. Lastly, I address the limit case for replacement, the brain, and explore a potential direction for it.