S3E7: Calico’s Cynthia Kenyon on The Science of Aging

For millennia, humans have believed that aging is inevitable. Yet thirty years ago, the work of Professor Cynthia Kenyon and her colleagues showed that a single gene mutation in a worm doubled its lifespan and postponed the diseases of aging. Recent work on the naked mole rat, a mammal like us, has shown that risk of death need not increase with age.

In the final episode of this season of Theory and Practice, we explore the genetic, cellular, and molecular basis of aging with Professor Kenyon and ask what harnessing this knowledge means for the future of healthcare.

Theory and Practice is a presentation of GV and Google AI.

This season we'll dive deep into the languages of life through explorations of the "dark genome", genome editing, protein folding, the future of aging, and more.

Hosted by Anthony Philippakis (Venture Partner at GV) and Alex Wiltschko (Staff Research Scientist with Google AI), Theory and Practice opens the doors to the cutting edge of biology and computer science through conversations with leaders in the field.