1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910454611103321

Autore

Kirkwood Tom

Titolo

Time of our lives : the science of human aging / / Tom Kirkwood

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York : , : Oxford University Press, , 1999

©1999

ISBN

1-280-47206-5

9786610472062

0-19-802939-X

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (288 p.)

Disciplina

612.6/7

Soggetti

Aging - Popular works

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di contenuto

Contents; Preface; 1 The funeral season; 2 Attitudes to ageing; 3 What's in a name?; 4 Longevity records; 5 The unnecessary nature of ageing; 6 Why ageing occurs; 7 Cells in crisis; 8 Molecules and mistakes; 9 Organs and orchestras; 10 The cancer connection; 11 Menopause and the big bang; 12 Eat less, live longer; 13 Why do women live longer than men?; 14 The Genie of the Genome; 15 In search of Wonka-Vite; 16 Making more time; Epilogue; Notes; Bibliography; Index

Sommario/riassunto

This is true, for he does show theoretically why there is no need for us to age, i.e. that there is no ""death gene"" that determines, more or less precisely, our longevity. Just don't expect any miracle cures. From a layman's viewpoint, the evolutionary argument he constructs for the development of aging in species is well elucidated and highly convincing. Aging is not, according to the disposable soma theory expounded here, anything to do with population control or some such crudely deterministic mechanism, but rather the genes making the best of what are, after all, limited energy resources