Directional selection coupled with kin selection favors the establishment of senescence.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Conventional wisdom in evolutionary theory considers aging as a non-selected byproduct of natural selection. Based on this, conviction aging was regarded as an inevitable phenomenon. It was also thought that in the wild organisms tend to die from diseases, predation and other accidents before they could reach the time when senescence takes its course. Evidence has accumulated, however, that aging is not inevitable and there are organisms that show negative aging even. Furthermore, old age does play a role in the deaths of many different organisms in the wild also. The hypothesis of programmed aging posits that a limited lifespan can evolve as an adaptation (i.e., positively selected for) in its own right, partly because it can enhance evolvability by eliminating "outdate

SUBMITTER: Szilagyi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10591417 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature