Biogerontology

Biogerontology deals with studying the biological process of aging where the focus is made on the evolutionary origins of aging and finding means to intervene in the process. Biogerontology is a branch of multidisciplinary gerontology which specializes in biological aging while other branches study about its psychological, social, cultural and cognitive sides.

There is a common belief that aging shows characteristics of a disease and it should be treated as a disease; which means we can reverse the effects of aging with the help of certain drugs. The main aim of biogerontology is to understand in depth about aging hallmarks and preventing the age-related diseases. Aubrey De Grey, an English biomedical gerontologist has proposed, should there be appropriate funding and involvement of specialists we would be able to find technologies to reverse aging effects and save people dying from an old age in next 25-30 years.

Biogerontology has been working on developing scientific bases of the process of aging. There have been new technologies and approaches to modulate the aging process on cellular, tissues, organ and organismal levels. It makes use of physical, chemical as well as biological tools such as various drugs, knockout genes and organisms, cell culture systems etc. to discover biological facts about aging. Along with repairing the age-related impairments, promoting longevity in organisms is the flip side of biogerontology. 

Many systems of different origins have been used in this interesting field of subject to gain deeper insights into human aging. Some of them include studies on vertebrates, invertebrates, micro-organisms and plant systems wide genetic determinants of aging as well as longevity. The research spans over a variety of areas such as recovering lost biochemical functions of genes or proteins, immunology of aging, role of autoimmune mechanisms in aging etc. These studies have enabled us to produce innovative healthcare products leading to prevention of age-related problems. They have also helped develop significant literature regarding the critical topics which researchers can utilize for further research advancements.
The biogerontology research has been successful in extending longevity in mice, worms and yeast. Another interesting discovery is of a gene that decides the lifespan is drosophila. As a matter of fact, this field has potential to translate the research to human aging and prevent many coming maladies beforehand. In coming decades biogerontology holds a great promise to revolutionize the longevity industry and produce major impacts on human life expectancy.