Longevity & AgingDamage vs Programmed Aging: Two Scientists Debate What Drives Getting Old
Why do we age? Two leading researchers take opposite sides of biology's most consequential debate. One argues aging results from the gradual buildup of cellular and molecular damage that outpaces the body's repair systems — modulated by damage rate, resistance, redundancy, and regeneration. The other contends aging is not accidental but genetically programmed, an evolved biological process with its own logic and trajectory. Rather than forcing a consensus, the authors present both frameworks honestly and critically, then propose concrete, testable hypotheses that future experiments could use to adjudicate between them. The outcome of this debate has major practical stakes: if damage drives aging, therapies should focus on boosting repair and clearance; if a program drives it, interventions might target the genetic switches that run that program. This review is a roadmap for where geroscience research needs to go next.
