DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Experimental evolution of the cessation of aging

在衰老的生物体中，成年期可以分为两个阶段：“衰老”阶段，死亡率迅速上升；“晚年”阶段，死亡率趋于稳定。人们对晚年的生理学知之甚少，特别是关于功能稳定是否发生在晚年。计划中的研究将测试功能能力是否会随着晚年生活时间的变化而变化，使用实验室果蝇作为模型系统。将比较两组在老年生活开始年龄方面有显著差异的人群在从老年生活过渡到老年生活期间的流动性和抗压力能力。成年后停止衰老的发现对需要知道如何最好地照顾老年人的政府机构具有重大意义。了解老年生活的功能意义对于预测与老龄化相关的健康和社会成本将是重要的。涉及预测预期寿命和残疾的未来变化的政府决策需要以有关停止衰老的功能影响的有效科学信息为基础。该项目将支持一名女研究生和14名本科生，他们将在共同负责人的指导下设计和实施实验进化项目。

In organisms that age, adulthood can be divided into two periods: 'aging,' during which mortality rates increase rapidly, and 'late life,' during which mortality rates plateau. Little is known about the physiology of late life, and in particular about whether functional stabilization occurs during late life. The planned research will test whether functional capacities shift in response to changes in the timing of late life using laboratory fruit flies as a model system. Two sets of populations that differ significantly with respect to the age of onset of late life will be compared for mobility and resistance to stress during the transition from aging to late life. The discovery of the cessation of aging late in adult life has significant implications for government agencies that need to know how best to care for the elderly. Understanding the functional significance of late life will be important for projections of health and social costs associated with aging. Governmental decision-making that involves projecting future changes in life expectancy and disability needs to be based on valid scientific information concerning the functional effects of the cessation of aging. The project will support a female graduate student and fourteen undergraduate students who are mentored by the co-PI and will design and implement project in experimental evolution.