Why Do We Age? Searching for a Paradigm

Aging is an evolutionary paradox. We know that bad things happen to organisms as they age, but what exactly happens and why remains obscure. However, to cure aging, we must know its nature. Like curing every disease, we must know the diagnosis before starting the treatment. Our evolutionary model suggests that aging evolved as an adaptive mechanism to control the spread of pathogens. The pathogen control model of aging is based on trivial assumptions, can explain aging-related phenomena much better than the classic model, and according to epistemological criteria, it should be considered a priority hypothesis. I will discuss our progress in producing testable predictions to test the model. I will also discuss our work on the “immune militia” hypothesis of cellular senescence, which considers it an antiviral mechanism.