Fight Aging!

The number of scientific conferences covering the molecular biology of aging seems to be growing. Here is a recently published report from a conference held last year, for example:

Aging is a fundamental problem that the world is currently facing. The population of elderly people is higher than it has ever been before and continues to increase at an even higher rate. Although life expectancy has been dramatically increased in industrialized countries, many elderly people still suffer from serious age-related diseases, and the burden of healthcare costs is increasing steadily because aging is directly related to many illnesses, including cancer, diabetes, and cardiac dysfunction. Therefore, delaying the onset of age-related diseases, improving quality of life, and providing humans with a healthy aging strategy are among the main goals of research on aging. Model organisms have proven to be reliable tools for studying aging and have revealed promising biological foundations for delaying the onset and the progress of age-related human diseases. To address and discuss emerging issues on various aspects of the biology of aging, the International Symposium on the Genetics of Aging and Life History II was held at the campus of the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), South Korea, from May 14 to 16, 2014.

Many leading scientists from all over the world attended the symposium to share their ideas. The scientists at the meeting presented their work, which aims to identify solutions for aging and age-associated diseases. Pharmacological strategies and bioinformatics approaches to understand aging, cellular senescence, sensory and mitochondrial signaling, and the role of microRNAs in the regulation of lifespan were among the wide range of topics covered at the meeting. Interventions that slow aging and delay the onset of age-associated diseases were discussed thoroughly.

There is no doubt that the importance of research on aging has been emphasized in the last few decades. The increasing interest in and demand for aging research is also felt in East Asian countries, including South Korea. Many notable meetings on aging research have been successfully held in Asia, including the Symposium on the Genetics of Aging and Life History (South Korea), the Trinations Aging Symposium (China), a conference on the Molecular Basis of Aging and Disease, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Asia (China), and others. Leading scientists in the field are invited from throughout the world, and the number of participants has been increasing at each meeting. We believe that these meetings, including the Symposium on the Genetics of Aging and Life History, substantially bridge different areas of aging research and bring opportunities for collaborations.

Link: http://www.impactaging.com/papers/v7/n6/full/100762.html