第三章：寿命和衰老的进化理论

Charles Darwin gave humanity a new way of thinking that forever changed our view of life. Darwin suggested that nature alone is responsible for the immense variation in life forms found on Earth. His theory of 进化 by natural selection remains largely unchanged and is at the intellectual core of all discoveries in the biological sciences, even 150 years after the theory was first introduced at a meeting of the Linnean Society of England, on July 1, 1858.

Darwin expanded his thoughts on 进化 by natural selection in On the Origin of Species. In this text, he describes how variations in the traits of individuals within a species provide the material responsible for the great diversity of life on Earth. Thus, it should come as no surprise that biogerontologists have looked to theories of 进化 to form the biological basis for the existence of an extended post-reproductive life, aging, senescence, and longevity.

In this chapter, we examine how 进化ary theory and 进化ary biology are being used to explain why and how we age. We begin with a brief look at some historical 进化ary theories related to longevity and aging, then explore in more detail some current 进化 models.