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Related Experiment Video

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A Suppressor Screen for the Characterization of Genetic Links Regulating Chronological Lifespan in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

A Suppressor Screen for the Characterization of Genetic Links Regulating Chronological Lifespan in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Published on: September 17, 2020

Could aging evolve as a pathogen control strategy?

Peter V Lidsky¹, Raul Andino¹

¹Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

|September 12, 2022

Summary

The pathogen control hypothesis suggests aging evolved to protect kin from disease. This adaptive aging process may benefit overall fitness by removing older individuals who pose an infection risk.

Keywords:

epidemiological models evolution programmed aging

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary biology
Gerontology
Epidemiology

Background:

Aging is traditionally viewed as a byproduct of beneficial traits, not an adaptive process.
The pathogen control hypothesis offers an alternative evolutionary explanation for aging.
Previous theories struggle to explain the benefit of shorter lifespans and the absence of non-aging mutants.

Purpose of the Study:

To explore the pathogen control hypothesis as a driver of aging.
To evaluate the consistency and explanatory power of this adaptive aging theory.
To compare the pathogen control hypothesis with established aging theories.

Main Methods:

Theoretical analysis of evolutionary principles.
Comparative review of existing aging hypotheses.
Examination of potential selective pressures related to infectious diseases.

Main Results:

The pathogen control hypothesis provides a potential adaptive explanation for aging.
It addresses key arguments against programmed aging, such as kin selection benefits.
The hypothesis explains the evolution of shorter lifespans and the lack of non-aging variants.

Conclusions:

The pathogen control hypothesis offers a compelling evolutionary framework for understanding aging.
It suggests aging may be an adaptive mechanism to mitigate disease transmission within kin groups.
Further research is warranted to empirically test the predictions of this hypothesis.