In the 1920s demographers confidently asserted that average life span would peak at 65 ‘without intervention of radical innovations or fantastic evolutionary change in our physiological make-up’. In 1990 they predicted life expectancy ‘should not exceed … 35 years at age 50 unless major breakthroughs occur in controlling the fundamental rate of ageing’. Within just five years both predictions were proved wrong.
Matt Ridley, The Rational Optimist
Aging is a highly complex biological phenomenon. It is not driven by a single gene or a single process, but rather emerges from the interplay of many molecular, cellular, and physiological mechanisms acting together over time. To develop a coherent and predictive understanding of aging, it is necessary to study multiple correlated processes simultaneously, across cells, tissues, and systems, and to integrate diverse types of measurements obtained from large numbers of individuals.
A wide range of hypotheses has been proposed to explain the biological basis of aging. While many factors undoubtedly contribute, we believe that epigenetic regulation plays a central role in initiating and coordinating age-related changes across different levels of biological organization.
To meaningfully understand aging mechanisms, it is therefore essential to first elucidate fundamental epigenetic processes at the molecular level. Many core questions related to embryogenesis, cellular differentiation, and cell-type specialization remain unresolved. These processes define cellular identity, stability, and plasticity, and are governed by epigenetic regulation. We view a deep mechanistic understanding of these foundational processes as a necessary prerequisite for interpreting how epigenetic regulation changes over time and contributes to aging.
We expect that progress in uncovering fundamental epigenetic mechanisms will ultimately enable more precise and mechanistic insights into how these processes influence aging, and how their dysregulation may contribute to age-associated functional decline.
Through supporting a series of research projects, the Foundation aims to initiate and contribute to global, collaborative research focused on:
In parallel, the Foundation seeks to attract the attention of additional funders to these areas of research.