To: ageing at net.bio.net
From: uunet!life.nthu.edu.tw!mjhsieh (Meng-Juei Hsieh) (Francis MJ Hsieh)
Subject: Definition of "Ageing"
Can I ask you all a question ? That is ; "what is the
definition of ageing?"
->->
I presume that you mean "senescence", which is usually as an increased
probability, with time, of dying. Thus, organisms that show a linear
disappearance over time are not considered to senesce, but organisms,
like mammals, that show a (logarithmically) increasing probability of
dying as they age are considered to senesce. See Alex Comfort's classic
"The Biology of Senescence," a book with a somewhat similar title by
Peter Medawar, the introductory chapters in Finch and Hayflick (1st
edition: Finch and others, later editions) Handbook of the Biology of
Aging, or Finch (CE)'s latest encyclopedic tome. That should provide enough
for you.
--richard lockshin
