ID: 2208.14915

Mortality equation characterizes the dynamics of an aging population

August 31, 2022

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Thomas Fink
Quantitative Biology
Condensed Matter
Nonlinear Sciences
Populations and Evolution
Statistical Mechanics
Adaptation and Self-Organizi...

Aging is thought to be a consequence of intrinsic breakdowns in how genetic information is processed. But mounting experimental evidence suggests that aging can be slowed. To help resolve this mystery, I derive a mortality equation which characterizes the dynamics of an evolving population with a given maximum age. Remarkably, while the spectrum of eigenvalues that govern the evolution depends on the fitness, how they change with the maximum age is independent of fitness. This makes it possible to establish the conditions under which programmed aging can provide an evolutionary benefit.

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