Paradigms in aging research: a critical review and assessment

This is the first in a series of articles in which we intend to critically review some of the currently used models in gerontology research and evalua te their contribution to advancing our understanding of the phenomenon of s enescence. The major theories of aging are considered. We discuss what make s a model useful in general and for aging research in particular. We sugges t criteria for the selection of paradigms for the study of aging. The crite ria we suggest for identifying underlying mechanisms that lead to age relat ed changes are: intraspecies universality, intrinsicality, progressiveness, and interspecies universality. The subsequent articles of this series shal l consider the merits and possible drawbacks of some of the most commonly u sed models of the biology of aging: (a) the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae; (b) the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans and the fruitfly, Drosophila mela nogaster; (c) mammalian cells in culture and telomerase model; (d) mitochon dria and aging; (e) progeroid syndromes; (f) in vivo studies with laborator y rodent strains; and (g) plant senescence. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.