Abstract
Some misconceptions can be an obstacle for biogerontology research. These misconceptions can be classified in two categories: (1) obsolete ideas in biology, for example “aging has a universal cause” and “living beings are like machines”, and (2) conceptual and logical confusions, such as “longevity is not dependent on other life-history traits”, “between-groups variability allows to infer conclusions about individual variability”, and “the burden of the proof lies with the opponents to the hypothesis”. This opinion article describes these problems in the hope it will help to overcome them.
References
Buffon GL (Leclerc, Comte de Buffon) (1749) Histoire naturelle de l’Homme (Natural history of man). Imprimerie royale, Paris
Berthelot G, Thibault V, Tafflet M, Escolano S, El Helou N, Jouven X, Hermine O, Toussaint JF (2008) The Citius End: world records progression announces the completion of a brief ultra-physiological quest. PLoS ONE 3:e1552
Bjelakovic G, Nikolova D, Gluud LL, Simonetti RG, Gluud C (2012) Antioxidant supplements for prevention of mortality in healthy participants and patients with various diseases. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 3:CD007176
Breithaupt H, Hadley C (2005) Curing ageing and the consequences. An interview with Aubrey de Grey, biomedical gerontologist at the University of Cambridge, UK. EMBO Rep 6:198–201
Carey JR (2002) Longevity. The biology and demography of lifespan. Princeton University Press, Princeton
de Condorcet MJAN (de Caritat, marquis de Condorcet) (1795) Esquisse d’un tableau des progrès historiques de l’esprit humain (Outlines of an historical view of the progress of the human mind). Agasse, Paris
Carnes BA (2011) What is lifespan regulation and why does it exist? Biogerontology 12:367–374
Carnes BA, Olshansky SJ, Grahn D (2003) Biological evidence for limits to the duration of life. Biogerontology 4:31–45
Christensen K, Doblhammer G, Rau R, Vaupel JW (2009) Ageing populations: the challenges ahead. Lancet 374:1196–1208
Cristofalo VJ (1999) Cell culture aging: insights for cell aging in vivo? Aging Clin Exp Res 11:1–3
Darwin C (1859) On the origin of species by means of natural selection. John Murray, London
de Grey ADNJ (2003) The foreseeability of real anti-aging medicine: focusing the debate. Exp Gerontol 38:927–934
de Grey ADNJ (2005) Foreseeable and more distant rejuvenation therapies. In: Rattan SIS (ed) Aging interventions and therapies. World Scientific Publishers, Singapore, pp 379–395
de Grey ADNJ (2013) Zeno’s paradox and the faith that technological game-changers are impossible. Gerontology 59:93–94
Demetrius L (2005) Of mice and men. EMBO Rep 6:S39–S44
Descartes R (1637) Discours de la méthode (discourse on the method). Imprimerie Ian Maire, Leyden
Fabre JH (1879) Souvenirs entomologiques (première série) (Entomological memories, first series). Delagrave, Paris
Harman D (1956) Aging. A theory based on free radical and radiation chemistry. J Gerontol 11:298–300
Harman D (1995) Role of antioxidant nutrients in aging: overview. Age 18:51–62
Harman D (2009) Origin and evolution of the free radical theory of aging: a brief personal history, 1954–2009. Biogerontology 10:773–781
Hayflick L (1985) Theories of biological aging. Exp Gerontol 20:145–159
Hayflick L (2007) Biological aging is no longer an unsolved problem. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1100:1–13
Holliday R (2006) Aging is no longer an unsolved problem in biology. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1067:1–9
Holliday R (2009) The extreme arrogance of anti-aging medicine. Biogerontology 10:223–228
Kirkwood T (1999) Time of our lives. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London
Komlos J, Lauderdale JE (2007) Underperformance in affluence: the remarkable relative decline in US heights in the second half of the 20th century. Soc Sci Quart 88:283–305
Lapointe J, Hekimi S (2010) When a theory of aging ages badly. Cell Mol Life Sci 67:1–8
Le Bourg E (1996) Correlational analysis in comparative gerontology: an examination of some problems. Exp Gerontol 31:645–653
Le Bourg E (2000) Gerontologists and the media: false hopes and fantasies can be hazardous for science. Biogerontology 1:371–372
Le Bourg E (2003) A public debate about the possibility of reversing human aging could be detrimental. Bioessays 25:93–94
Le Bourg E (2007) Does reproduction decrease longevity in human beings? Ageing Res Rev 6:141–149
Le Bourg E (2012a) Forecasting continuously increasing life expectancy: what implications? Ageing Res Rev 11:325–332
Le Bourg E (2012b) Fantasmes autour du vieillissement et de la longévité (Fantasies about aging and longevity). In: Yaya HS (ed) La réponse de la science médicale au devenir vieux, Prolongévisme, transhumanisme et biogérontologie. Presses de l’Université Laval, Québec, pp 47–74
Medvedev ZA (1990) An attempt at a rational classification of theories of aging. Biol Rev 65:375–398
Oeppen J, Vaupel JW (2002) Broken limits to life expectancy. Science 296:1029–1031
Olshansky SJ, Carnes BA (2013a) Zeno’s paradox of immortality. Gerontology 59:85–92
Olshansky SJ, Carnes BA (2013b) Science fact versus SENS foreseeable. Gerontology 59:190–192
Pearl R (1928) The rate of living. Knopf, London
Pérez VI, Bokov A, Remmen HV, Mele J, Ran Q, Ikeno Y, Richardson A (2009) Is the oxidative stress theory of aging dead? Biochim Biophys Acta 1790:1005–1104
Pontin J (2006) Is defeating aging only a dream? Technol Rev. http://www2.technologyreview.com/sens. Accessed 27 March 2013
Popper KR (1935) Logik der Forschung (the logic of scientific discovery). Verlag von Julius Springer, Vienna
Rubin H (2002) Promise and problems in relating cellular senescence in vitro to aging in vivo. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 34:275–286
Salmon AB, Richardson A, Pérez VI (2010) Update on the oxidative stress theory of aging: does oxidative stress play a role in aging or healthy aging? Free Radic Biol Med 48:642–655
Speakman JR, Selman C (2011) The free-radical damage theory: accumulating evidence against a simple link of oxidative stress to ageing and lifespan. Bioessays 33:255–259
Stearns SC (1983) The influence of size and phylogeny on patterns of covariation among life-history traits in the mammals. Oikos 41:173–187
Strehler BL (1959) Origin and comparison of the effects of time and high-energy radiations on living systems. Quart Rev Biol 34:117–142
Thomas F, Teriokhin AT, Renaud F, De Meeûs T, Guegan JF (2000) Human longevity at the cost of reproductive success: evidence from global data. J Evol Biol 13:409–414
Vallin J, Caselli G (1997) Towards a new horizon in demographic trends: the combined effects of 150 years life expectancy and new fertility models. In: Robine JM, Vaupel JW, Jeune B, Allard M (eds) Longevity: to the limits and beyond. Springer, Berlin, pp 29–68
van Bertalanffy L (1968) General system theory. George Braziller, Inc., New York
Warner H, Anderson J, Austad S, Bergamini E, Bredesen D, Butler R, Carnes BA, Clark BF, Cristofalo V, Faulkner J, Guarente L, Harrison DE, Kirkwood T, Lithgow G, Martin G, Masoro E, Melov S, Miller RA, Olshansky SJ, Partridge L, Pereira-Smith O, Perls T, Richardson A, Smith J, von Zglinicki T, Wang E, Wei JY, Williams TF (2005) Science and the SENS agenda. What can we reasonably expect from ageing research ? EMBO Rep 6:1006–1008
Yin D, Chen K (2005) The essential mechanisms of aging: irreparable damage accumulation of biochemical side-reactions. Exp Gerontol 40:455–465
Acknowledgments
Many thanks are due to Guy Beugnon for his helpful comments on a first draft of the article. I express my gratitude to the anonymous referees for their highly constructive comments on a previous version of this article.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Le Bourg, E. Obsolete ideas and logical confusions can be obstacles for biogerontology research. Biogerontology 14, 221–227 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10522-013-9418-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10522-013-9418-7