The information theory of aging: The major factors that determine lifespan

Abstract

The information theory of aging assumes that decreased functionality of the whole organism and its systems is a result of decreased functionality of cellular repair mechanisms caused by the accumulation of genomic damages in the cells. A four-level cause-effect model of the interaction between the key processes during aging of highly organized multicellular organisms is proposed. Based on this model, some mathematical laws of changes in the viability of an organism are examined. The main fundamental factors that influence individual life expectancy, such as the initial amount of genomic damages at birth, the rate of its accumulation, and the pressure of the environment, are described. Additive and multiplicative interactions of the processes in different complex systems of a multicellular organism and their effects on its overall functionality (viability) are analyzed and the quantitative patterns of aging in a population of model organism are studied. The simulation provided the survival curves for species with different types of aging and a description of a compensation effect for species with aging that follows the Gompertz–Makeham law.