- Email: [email protected]
A Means to an End: The Biological Basis of Aging
The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology 35 (2003) 1297–1298
Book reviews A Means to an End: The Biological Basis of Aging William R. Clark (Ed.), Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK With the aging of the population and the awareness of the problems linked to that development, research on aging and books dealing with the different aspects of aging are becoming fashionable. Usually, in such books one would find a comprehensive compilation of the ideas and hypotheses prevalent in aging research, as they are summarized to more or less exhaustive and profound extent in currently published reviews. William Clark’s book is quite different in several aspects: it provides a complete and thorough listing of the mechanisms thought to be implicated in the aging process and the hypotheses in the field; each subject is dealt with in a very profound way. This book provides up-to-date insight on the aging process from the view-point of an insider, and an expert who critically observed for several decades the progress made in aging research. Today’s reasoning in the field of aging research is fueled by some sort of consensus that a small number of phenomena are crucial for the aging process: loss DNA repair functions, accumulation of oxidative damage, and replicative senescence. William Clark tells us that there might be more mysteries out there than we are aware of. He describes less known theories on aging that existed decades ago, but might be valuable enough to be re-evaluated. One striking example that got little attention in today’s aging research is the Hutchinson–Gilford Progeria Syndrome. This syndrome is characterized by the onset of aging at birth. It is difficult to explain this disease by the accelerated accumulation of damage or the lack of repair and replicative senescence, as can be done for the Werner’s syndrome. While for a scientist this book is a pleasure to read, specifically with its nearly philosophical excursions at
several instances, such as the evolution of aging, it is a crash course for everybody who is a newcomer to aging research. However, it might be quite difficult to understand for a layman. Although at each chapter enough introduction is given to understand the reasoning that follows, still too much knowledge in basic genetics and molecular biology is presumed for a complete comprehension. This discrepancy between the very basic explanations at the beginning of each theory that is dealt with and the higher level of arguing further on, is reflected in the accompanying figures, which are close to banal for a molecular biologist but not quite understandable for anyone else. It would have helped to be more comprehensive for laymen by including figures with more explicit and educational drawings. However, this book is a major contribution in spreading the current (and refresh the past) knowledge in aging research and a valuable resource. Irmgard Irminger-Finger Laboratoire de Biologie du Vieillissement Department de geriatrie, Chemin de petit Bel Air 2 1225 Chene Bourg, Switzerland Tel.: +41-22-305-5453; fax: +41-22-305-5455 E-mail address: [email protected] (I. Irminger-Finger) doi:10.1016/S 1 3 5 7 - 2 7 2 5 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 3 1 4 - X
Biochemical Methods. A Concise Guide for Students and Researchers A. Pingoud, C. Urbanke, J. Hoggett, A. Jeltsch (Eds.), Wiley-VCH This book aims to provide an overview of relevant basic science, technologies and laboratory methodology in contemporary biochemistry. Its chapters describe good laboratory practice, sample preparation
1357-2725/02/$ – see front matter © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Book reviews A Means to an End: The Biological Basis of Aging William R. Clark (Ed.), Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK With the aging of the population and the awareness of the problems linked to that development, research on aging and books dealing with the different aspects of aging are becoming fashionable. Usually, in such books one would find a comprehensive compilation of the ideas and hypotheses prevalent in aging research, as they are summarized to more or less exhaustive and profound extent in currently published reviews. William Clark’s book is quite different in several aspects: it provides a complete and thorough listing of the mechanisms thought to be implicated in the aging process and the hypotheses in the field; each subject is dealt with in a very profound way. This book provides up-to-date insight on the aging process from the view-point of an insider, and an expert who critically observed for several decades the progress made in aging research. Today’s reasoning in the field of aging research is fueled by some sort of consensus that a small number of phenomena are crucial for the aging process: loss DNA repair functions, accumulation of oxidative damage, and replicative senescence. William Clark tells us that there might be more mysteries out there than we are aware of. He describes less known theories on aging that existed decades ago, but might be valuable enough to be re-evaluated. One striking example that got little attention in today’s aging research is the Hutchinson–Gilford Progeria Syndrome. This syndrome is characterized by the onset of aging at birth. It is difficult to explain this disease by the accelerated accumulation of damage or the lack of repair and replicative senescence, as can be done for the Werner’s syndrome. While for a scientist this book is a pleasure to read, specifically with its nearly philosophical excursions at
several instances, such as the evolution of aging, it is a crash course for everybody who is a newcomer to aging research. However, it might be quite difficult to understand for a layman. Although at each chapter enough introduction is given to understand the reasoning that follows, still too much knowledge in basic genetics and molecular biology is presumed for a complete comprehension. This discrepancy between the very basic explanations at the beginning of each theory that is dealt with and the higher level of arguing further on, is reflected in the accompanying figures, which are close to banal for a molecular biologist but not quite understandable for anyone else. It would have helped to be more comprehensive for laymen by including figures with more explicit and educational drawings. However, this book is a major contribution in spreading the current (and refresh the past) knowledge in aging research and a valuable resource. Irmgard Irminger-Finger Laboratoire de Biologie du Vieillissement Department de geriatrie, Chemin de petit Bel Air 2 1225 Chene Bourg, Switzerland Tel.: +41-22-305-5453; fax: +41-22-305-5455 E-mail address: [email protected] (I. Irminger-Finger) doi:10.1016/S 1 3 5 7 - 2 7 2 5 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 3 1 4 - X
Biochemical Methods. A Concise Guide for Students and Researchers A. Pingoud, C. Urbanke, J. Hoggett, A. Jeltsch (Eds.), Wiley-VCH This book aims to provide an overview of relevant basic science, technologies and laboratory methodology in contemporary biochemistry. Its chapters describe good laboratory practice, sample preparation
1357-2725/02/$ – see front matter © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.