Evolutionary aspects of ageing

Biology. Health. 23/09/10

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This episode is with Steven Austad. He is the Protective Life Endowed Chair in Health Aging Research, a Distinguished professor and Chair of the Department of Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Steven has been at the forefront of unraveling the mysteries of why some individuals live longer and healthier lives than others. His work covers a diverse array of topics, from the cellular mechanisms of aging to the evolutionary aspects of longevity in various species. In this conversation we talk about what is ageing?, biggest challenges in the field of ageing, evolutionary aspects of ageing, chronic illnesses and how to increase human life span? 

About the guest

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Timestamps

  • 00:00:00 Introduction 
  • 00:01:08 How did you decide to work on ageing? 
  • 00:03:21 Why some species age faster than others? 
  • 00:03:56 Evolutionary perspective of ageing 
  • 00:05:42 What is ageing? 
  • 00:06:13 Challenges in studying ageing 
  • 00:09:49 What is longevity and longevity quotient? 
  • 00:12:18 How does flight affects ageing? 
  • 00:17:21 Correlation between habitat of animals and their lifespan 
  • 00:19:07 Factors affecting lifespan of animals in the wild or in captivity 
  • 00:20:59 Importance of regeneration for the survival 
  • 00:22:58 Flight independently evolved four times 
  • 00:25:55 Temperature dependent change of sex 
  • 00:27:10 Wisdom- the oldest confirmed wild bird 
  • 00:28:58 What are the challenges to get the age of an animal correctly? 
  • 00:37:12 Relationship between size of the animal and longevity 
  • 00:40:42 Vampire bats 
  • 00:41:41 Lifespan of naked mole rats 
  • 00:44:31 Impact of high altitude on human health 
  • 00:46:37 Lifespan of hummingbirds 
  • 00:49:22 Lessons for human longevity from evolutionary biology 
  • 00:56:04 Steven's work on Restrictive eating 
  • 01:02:04 It is important to couple restrictive eating with weight training 
  • 01:04:40 Comment on diets 
  • 01:06:58 There are no biomarkers for ageing 
  • 01:08:27 When can we have a good consensus on healthy lifestyle? 
  • 01:10:10 Life at the age of 77 
  • 01:11:28 Ethical implications of increasing human lifespan 
  • 01:13:53 Thank you