Why and how do mice age differently from elephants? Why do humans age differently from both? What is the limit of human longevity and can it be increased? If so, how?

To renowned biogerontology professor and scientist Judith Campisi of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, finding answers to these questions drives her. Each age-related disease is due to cell senescence, a cell’s response to stress, yet there’s also what she calls the “evolutionary trade-off” of cell senescence.

She explains how chronic inflammation is a double-edged sword and that research has uncovered surprising results on mice and how cell senescence impacts their existence. Studies have found that exercise and diet may benefit cell senescence in mice; it’s thought provoking even as the process is not fully understood.

Finally, she gives a prediction on the expected lifespan of humans two or three decades from now. Is it even possible to increase it? And if so, how?

Dr. Campisi also discusses:

• Why humans are impacted by cell senescence now more than ever in our history
• The two parts of the immune system – the innate and adaptive subsystems – and their roles in aging
• The effect of the FDA’s refusal to classify aging as a disease
• Which type of diet has shown the most promise in blunting the effects of cell senescence
• The impact of personality on brain activity – and the overall effect on health and cell senescence

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed