Why organisms age: Evolution of senescence under positive pleiotropy?

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Abstract

Two classic theories maintain that aging evolves either because of alleles whose deleterious effects are confined to late life or because of alleles with broad pleiotropic effects that increase early-life fitness at the expense of late-life fitness. However, empirical studies often reveal positive pleiotropy for fitness across age classes, and recent evidence suggests that selection on early-life fitness can decelerate aging and increase lifespan, thereby casting doubt on the current consensus. Here, we briefly review these data and promote the simple argument that aging can evolve under positive pleiotropy between early- and late-life fitness when the deleterious effect of mutations increases with age. We argue that this hypothesis makes testable predictions and is supported by existing evidence.

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