Coming 14 June, 2016 from MacMillan/Flatiorn
The Selfish Gene is dead, and Aging is the Killer App!
Evolution is all about being a strong competitor and, above all, making lots of babies. So how could aging evolve? Aging is the opposite of fitness!
Evolutionary biologists have assumed that aging must be a side effect of natural selection, certainly not an adaptation in its own right. But surprise! There are genes that enforce aging — genes that seem to have no other purpose than to kill us. What is more, these same genes have been guarded and preserved over a billion years of evolutionary history. It sure looks as though Evolution wants us to die!
How can we imagine a Darwinian process directed toward loss of fitness?
Evolutionary theory will have to adapt or die!
The implications for medicine are just as revolutionary:
We are learning to silence the aging genes, to live longer, healthier lives.