LONGEVITY, GENES, AND AGING

Until recently, biogerontology was a backwater of biology, but progres s in the qualitative and quantitative genetic analysis of longevity ha s led to a revolution in aging research. This research has revealed th at extended longevity is frequently associated with enhanced metabolic capacity and response to stress. Moreover, it suggests that there are multiple mechanisms of aging. Because of its complexity, the aging pr ocess takes us into the realm of integrative biology, and thus, bioger ontology should prove instrumental in deciphering the functional and r egulatory circuitry of the sequenced genome.