Chen Hou, Missouri University
SFI News:
The Santa Fe Institute (SFI) holds seminar “But Why Do Smaller Dogs Live Longer? A Universal Theory To Answer The Question Dr. Geoffrey West Could Not Answer” at 12:15 p.m., Wednesday Dec. 2 at Collins Conference Room in Santa Fe.
Abstract: The relationship between energy expenditure and longevity has been a central theme in aging studies.
Rate of living theory and oxidative stress theory suggest that longevity is negatively correlated with mass-specific metabolic rate, which is usually positively correlated with animals’ body size.
However, empirical studies have yielded controversial results. In this talk, I will focus on two of the long-standing puzzles in the field.
First, why across species larger animals live longer, but within a species, e.g. in dogs, smaller breeds have longer lifespan.
Second, how food restriction and growth hormone interference extend lifespan without lowering metabolic rate.
I argue that the energy tradeoff between biosynthesis and maintenance is the key to explaining these paradoxes, and I will use one single equation, based on first principles of energy conservation and allometric scaling laws, to reconcile these seemingly contradictory phenomena.
SFI Host: Geoffrey West
Click here to view the online event listing.