Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

4-25-2025

Keywords

aging theories, cellular aging, crosslinking theory, genetic expression, genetic programming, molecular aging, wear and tear theory

Disciplines

Biological Psychology | Developmental Psychology

Abstract

There are multiple theories of aging, which include evolutionary, molecular, cellular, and systemic theories. The focus of this entry will be on the cellular theories of aging. There are two main categories of theories of cellular aging, error theories and programming theories. The error theories suggest that aging is a result of an accumulation of errors as an outcome of environmental insults that leads to damage at various levels of the cell. Error theories also propose that imperfect repair mechanisms are a factor that leads to cellular aging. The second category, programming theories, suggest that aging is a genetically programmed event. However, these two broad categories of theories are not mutually exclusive, for example, altered proteins can alter gene expression. Specific theories of aging from the two main categories will be discussed.

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