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Reliability theory of aging and longevity

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The reliability theory of aging is an attempt to apply the principles of reliability theory to create a mathematical model of senescence. The theory was published in Russian by Leonid A. Gavrilov and Natalia S. Gavrilova as Biologiia prodolzhitelʹnosti zhizni in 1986, and in English translation as The Biology of Life Span: A Quantitative Approach in 1991.[1][2]

One of the models suggested in the book is based on an analogy with the reliability theory. The underlying hypothesis is based on the (previously suggested) premise that humans are born in a highly defective state. This is then made worse by environmental and mutational damage; exceptionally high redundancy due to the extremely high number of low-reliable components (e.., cells) allows the organism to survive for a while.[3][4]

The theory attempts to explain two aging phenomena for higher organisms: the Gompertz law of exponential increase in mortality rates with age and the "late-life mortality plateau" (mortality deceleration compared to the Gompertz law at higher ages).[4]

The book criticizes a number of hypotheses known at the time, discusses drawbacks of the hypotheses put forth by the authors themselves, and concludes that regardless the suggested mathematical models, the underlying biological mechanisms remain unknown.[5]

Leonid Gavrilov

Leonid A. Gavrilov
NationalityRussian
Alma materMoscow State University
Occupationresearch associate

Leonid A. Gavrilov is a Russian-born American scientist. He is a research associate at the Center on Aging of the National Opinion Research Center in Chicago, in the United States. He specializes in the mathematical modeling of aging and mortality, biodemography and the genetics of aging and longevity. He and his wife Natalia S. Gavrilova have proposed a reliability theory of aging. Gavrilov has written two books, several chapters and numerous scientific papers.[citation needed] He is currently a Senior Research Associate at the University of Chicago.

Biography

Gavrilov has an MSc in chemistry (1976) and a PhD in genetics (1980), both from Moscow State University. His book The Biology of Life Span: A Quantitative Approach was published in Russian in 1986 and in English translation in 1991.[6][7] In 1998 he and his wife emigrated to the United States, where he received a grant from the National Institute on Aging to study the effects of parental age on lifespan. He taught a course on "biodemography of human mortality and longevity" at the University of Chicago.[6]

Gavrilov is an associate editor of Experimental Gerontology and Theoretical Biology and Medical Modelling, and an editorial board member of Rejuvenation Research, Advanced Science Letters and The Scientific World Journal. He is a consultant for the National Research Council and the National Institute on Aging,[6] and a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America.

Publications

  • L. A. Gavrilov and N. S. Gavrilova (1986). Биология продолжительности жизни: количественные аспекты (Biologiia prodolzhitelʹnosti zhizni: kolichestvennye aspekty), Moscow; Nauka, supervisory editor: Academician V. P. Skulachyov [ru]
  • Leonid A. Gavrilov, Natalia S. Gavrilova; V.P. Skulachev (ed.); John and Liliya Payne (trans.) (1991). The Biology of Life Span: A Quantitative Approach, Harwood Academic Publishers. ISBN 9783718649839. (translation of the second, revided 1991 edition of the original book by L. A. Gavrilov and N. S. Gavrilova)
  • Leonid A. Gavrilov, Natalia S. Gavrilova (2001). The Reliability Theory of Aging and Longevity. Journal of Theoretical Biology 213: (4): 527-545.
  •  ———  (2004). The Reliability-Engineering Approach to the Problem of Biological Aging. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1019 (1): 509–512.
  •  ———  (2006). Reliability Theory of Aging and Longevity. In: Edward J. Masoro and Steven N. Austad (2006). Handbook of the Biology of Aging, sixth edition. Burlington, Massachusetts: Academic Press. ISBN 9780120883875.

See also

• DNA damage theory of aging

References

  1. ^ Leonid A. Gavrilov, Natalia S. Gavrilova; V.P. Skulachev (ed.); John and Liliya Payne (trans.) (1991). The Biology of Life Span: A Quantitative Approach. Chur; New York: Harwood Academic Publishers. ISBN 9783718649839.
  2. ^ A.J.S. Rayl (May 2002). Aging, in Theory: A Personal Pursuit. Do body system redundancies hold the key? The Scientist 16 (10): 20.
  3. ^ [s.n.] (1 September 2004). Engineering and Aging: The Best Is Yet to Be. IEEE Spectrum. Archived 23 April 2014.
  4. ^ a b Gavrilov, Gavrilova (2001).
  5. ^ "Conclusion" section of the book
  6. ^ a b c [s.n.] (2002). Pieces of the puzzle: an interview with Leonid A. Gavrilov, PhD. Journal of Anti-Aging Medicine 5 (3): 255-263.
  7. ^ Leonid A. Gavrilov, Natalia S. Gavrilova; V.P. Skulachev (ed.); John and Liliya Payne (trans.) (1991). The Biology of Life Span: A Quantitative Approach. Harwood Academic Publishers. ISBN 9783718649839.
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