In organisms that age, adulthood can be divided into two periods: 'aging,' during which mortality rates increase rapidly, and 'late life,' during which mortality rates plateau. Little is known about the physiology of late life, and in particular about whether functional stabilization occurs during late life. The planned research will test whether functional capacities shift in response to changes in the timing of late life using laboratory fruit flies as a model system. Two sets of populations that differ significantly with respect to the age of onset of late life will be compared for mobility and resistance to stress during the transition from aging to late life.
The discovery of the cessation of aging late in adult life has significant implications for government agencies that need to know how best to care for the elderly. Understanding the functional significance of late life will be important for projections of health and social costs associated with aging. Governmental decision-making that involves projecting future changes in life expectancy and disability needs to be based on valid scientific information concerning the functional effects of the cessation of aging. The project will support a female graduate student and fourteen undergraduate students who are mentored by the co-PI and will design and implement project in experimental evolution.
