Aging is the ultimate expression of the interplay between an organism's genes and its environment and life history. It is now clear that multiple genes control the rate and manner in which organisms age. In addition, environmental and physiological stress strongly influence aging phenotypes. This conference will bring together scientists working on the genetics of aging and the ability of the aged organism to withstand environmental and physiological stress. It will also include selected scientists who are working in areas of importance to aging research, but not usually included in meetings on aging research. Thus, many of the speakers are leaders in molecular aging research, but the program also features prominent scientists working in important related areas. The conference is multi-disciplinary, bringing together molecular geneticists and epidemiologists, cell biologists and physiologists, and evolutionary biologists. It is designed to position the field of aging research to take advantage of the revolution in gene discovery and functional genomics research, and to integrate emerging information on molecular determinants of longevity with the organismal response to environmental influences and the phenotypes of aging organisms. The proposed meeting will bring scientists from diverse biological fields together to present new discoveries, and discuss new ideas, on the genetic on the molecular physiological basis of aging. The conference will begin with a Keynote address in which two opposing ideas on the control of complex phenotypes (genetic versus epigenetic) will be discussed. Subsequent sessions will address the evolution of aging; model systems, longevity-determining genes and their effects on stress responses; cellular aging in humans; genetic and biochemical manipulation of longevity and stress responses in mammals; mammalian age-related disease genes and polymorphisms; and current approaches for mining the human genome for candidate longevity determination genes.
