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Basics of Biology of Aging for MSU Non-biologists

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Abstract

The history of the creation of the course of lectures “Basics of the Biology of Aging” at the School of Biology of Moscow State University, as well as at the Department of Life Science and Engineering of Harbin Institute of Technology, is briefly described. In the process of teaching this course, the author got the impression that its main provisions may also be of interest to students of non-biological specialties who have recently been quite often involved in the work on the implementation of gerontological grants. This is largely determined, apparently, by the significantly increased funding for this kind of research in recent years. In turn, this is a consequence of the fact that the average life span of people in developed countries has increased dramatically over the past decades. However, the maximum life span has not changed much (it is now the same as it was thousands of years ago, it is just that the chances of living to the age of a centenarian have become much greater). If earlier people often died at an early age from various diseases not related to age (mainly infectious diseases), now, due to significant advances in medicine, most people live to old age. As a result, death “from aging” is becoming more common. At the same time, many people have a very vague idea of what aging is, what are its mechanisms and how to fight it. In this regard, in 2022, an interschool elective course of lectures was organized at MSU for students of any schools of the university, except for the School of Biology itself. It is called “Basics of the Biology of Aging or Everything You Wanted to Know about Aging (but Were Afraid to Ask).” The material of the lectures was specially adapted for students who are not biologists by their main specialty. The main emphasis in the course, consisting of 12 lectures, is made on the fundamental definitions and methodical/methodological approaches used in gerontology. The article lists the questions submitted for the students’ test and briefly analyzes its results.

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Notes

  1. https://radiokp.ru/zdorove/nalip-na-belkovye-molekuly-vnutri-tela-genetik-nazval-produkt-kotoryy-zastavlyaet-organizm-staret_nid505631_au10665au

  2. https://lk.msu.ru/course/view?id=2659

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Funding

This work was supported by the state assignment of Moscow State University, part two (basic research, project no. 121032300215-6).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Evolutionary Cytogerontology Sector, School of Biology, Moscow State University, 119234, Moscow, Russia

    A. N. Khokhlov

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  1. A. N. Khokhlov
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Correspondence to A. N. Khokhlov.

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The author declares that he has no conflicts of interest. This article does not contain any studies involving animals or human participants performed by the author.

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Translated by M. Batrukova

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Khokhlov, A.N. Basics of Biology of Aging for MSU Non-biologists. Moscow Univ. Biol.Sci. Bull. 78, 111–114 (2023). https://doi.org/10.3103/S0096392523020025

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3103/S0096392523020025

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