Techniques for Analysis of Biological Aging

The aging process encompasses changes at the molecular, cellular, and organismal levels that can be analyzed by a variety of methods. For several decades, a popular mode of studying biological aging has been the analysis of cells cultured in vitro that display cellular senescence. Current interest is also focused on models of senescence that include organismal aging such as aging of yeast and Drosophila . The number of techniques applied to biological aging has increased exponentially over the past decade. Although approaches to biological aging vary greatly, they can be generally grouped into basic techniques, intervention methods, and protocols for analyzing the many molecular and cellular changes seen in aging cells. Hence, this volume organizes the topics into these three categories.