Healthy Aging: Putting the life in the years

We are living in a rapidly aging population, but can we harness regenerative capacity to achieve immortality? This talk highlights Prof Aziz Aboobaker’s use of the planarian flatworm to study the mechanisms of tissue regeneration along with the power and promise of stem cells. We know that some flatworms are immortal and don’t age, so what has happened during evolution to allow them to do this? The fact these animals can regenerate all their body parts is only part of the story. But if we can understand how some animals avoid ageing, what will that means for us?

As we age, our cells and organ systems become more vulnerable. Our cells accumulate changes in their genome, which can give rise to changes in our health. Here I will present the evidence that the formaldehyde which our bodies naturally produce accelerates features of ageing, and leaves a distinct mutational imprint on DNA. At the end of this talk, I hope attendees will be open to the idea that formaldehyde contributes to ageing, recognise alcohol as a source of acetaldehyde, and leave definitely older and perhaps marginally wiser.

Due to unforeseen circumstances Kieran Smith can no longer present, we apologise for any disappointment.