Aging as Phenoptotic Phenomenon

Definition

The concept of phenoptosis, or genome-programmed organism death, was first proposed by one of us (V.P.S.) in 1997 (Skulachev 1997). Phenoptosis is a death program which is encoded in the genome of a dying creature. It is composed as a chain of biochemical events that ultimately cause self-destruction of organism (like apoptosis, programmed death of the cell). Less commonly, such a death results from a behavioral response encoded in the genome of the dying individual, its sexual partner, a close relative of the victim or its partners in the ecosystem. (Libertini 2012a, b; Skulachev 2012). Within this concept, the aging starts as a slow (chronic) phenoptosis, i.e., the process of death of an organism stretched over a considerable period of time (Skulachev 2003).

Overview and Key Findings

Aging starts long before it becomes a direct cause for a death of an individual. At the same time, it can indirectly facilitate its death. For instance, the weakening of the organism that...