Why do we get old? Aging at 4 Levels of Difficulty

An homage and my current best answer to the question "Why Die?" Here, I try to literally answer that question at 4 levels of complexity. Simple stories, simplified reductionist biology, statistics, and systems biology. CGP Grey's video ( • Why Die? ) sent me down a multi-year research rabbit hole and this is my attempt to sum up my reading.
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Image Credits:
Miniature by Pierart dou Tielt illustrating the Tractatus quartus by Gilles li Muisit (Tournai, c. 1353). Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
commons.wikime...
"You Have Died of Dysentery" from Oregon Trail for Apple II. The Oregon Trail (MECC) v1.4 (1985, Apple II)
Fountain of Youth. Jacques Iverny, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
commons.wikime...
Clash of the Titans. (1981 film)
Bacilluas_anthracis_plate.jpg Megan Mathias and J. Todd Parker, USCDCP, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Antibiotics Sensitivity Testing Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya, CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommon..., via Wikimedia Commons
Shoelace photo by bergsten, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Telomere micrograph: U.S. Department of Energy Human Genome Program, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Metformin K-M curve adapted from Bannister et al. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism 16, no. 11 (November 2014): 1165-73 doi.org/10.111...
Hallmarks of Aging. Weissig, Volkmar, and Marvin Edeas. 4open 5 (2022): 5. doi.org/10.105.... Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0 (creativecommon...,
Sources and Further reading:
Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking, Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion 2021
Cohen et al. “A Complex Systems Approach to Aging Biology.” Nature Aging 2, no. 7 (July 2022): 580-91. doi.org/10.103....
Systems Biology: A Very Short Introduction By Eberhard O. Voit
Cohen, Alan A. “Complex Systems Dynamics in Aging: New Evidence, Continuing Questions.” Biogerontology 17 (2016): 205-20. doi.org/10.100....
Fernandez, Maria Emilia, Jorge Martinez-Romero, Miguel A. Aon, Michel Bernier, Nathan L. Price, and Rafael de Cabo. “How Is Big Data Reshaping Preclinical Aging Research?” Lab Animal 52, no. 12 (December 2023): 289-314. doi.org/10.103....
Knyazer, Anna, Gabriela Bunu, Dmitri Toren, Teodora Bucaciuc Mracica, Yael Segev, Marina Wolfson, Khachik K. Muradian, Robi Tacutu, and Vadim E. Fraifeld. “Small Molecules for Cell Reprogramming: A Systems Biology Analysis.” Aging (Albany NY) 13, no. 24 (December 17, 2021): 25739-62. doi.org/10.186....
Loscalzo, Joseph, and Albert-Laszlo Barabasi. “Systems Biology and the Future of Medicine.” Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. Systems Biology and Medicine 3, no. 6 (November 2011): 619-27. doi.org/10.100....
Panyard, Daniel J., Bing Yu, and Michael P. Snyder. “The Metabolomics of Human Aging: Advances, Challenges, and Opportunities.” Science Advances 8, no. 42 (October 19, 2022): eadd6155. doi.org/10.112....
Yashin, Anatoli I., and S. Michal Jazwinski, eds. Aging and Health: A Systems Biology Perspective. Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology, vol. 40. Basel ; New York: Karger, 2015.

[@fburton8]

Thanks for a very interesting and thought-provoking video essay!

[@PeterAllenLab]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@jondoe6608]

[@PeterAllenLab]

Thank you!