Geroscience

Geroscience is a multidisciplinary scientific field that focuses on understanding the biological basis of aging, and how it influences the incidence of age-related diseases. The field provides insights to identify treatments that delay aging and age-related diseases, reduce healthcare costs and promote healthy aging. Geroscience combines expertise from biology, genetics, gerontology, and computational biology, as well as clinical medicine, epidemiology, and public health, to provide a comprehensive understanding of aging across species. With rapid aging of the global population, Geroscience is becoming increasingly important to develop therapies that target underlying factors of aging to extend healthy lifespan and reduce the incidence of chronic diseases. As we age, our body undergoes several changes, including reduced immunity, increased inflammation, and cellular damage, including oxidative stress, DNA damage, telomere shortening, protein misfolding, and mitochondrial dysfunction. These changes predispose us to age-related diseases, such as cancer, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis. Geroscience research focuses on identifying interventions and pharmacological agents that target these biological processes to delay aging and age-related diseases. For instance, caloric restriction, senolytics, mitochondria-targeted antioxidants, telomerase activators, and immune-modulators, have all demonstrated promise in preclinical studies. In sum, Geroscience research has the potential to transform healthcare outcomes and enhance quality of life in aging populations. It provides an opportunity for developing a new generation of interventions that promote healthy aging and that represent a paradigm shift from treating the symptoms of age-related decline to addressing its root causes.