Lab Members
Lucas Trindade
Postdoctoral Researcher
Heddle Initiative Research Unit
RIKEN
Email: lucas.t at riken.jp
Importance of Aging Studies
Most animal's species exhibit very similar changes over time although their change rates are different. Even after more than 100 years of scientific debate, we still do not know what causes these age-related changes. It is still unclear if aging is a random process where organisms are just incapable to maintain the body; or if aging is a genetic program, such as development and maturation.
Interestingly, some species known as "aging free" are able to "indefinitely" regenerate their organs. The individuals from such species do not show the age-related changes over time. On the other hand, there are some species known as semelparous that activates their "aging/death program" soon after reproduction. Semelparous species include, some insects, fishes, mollusks and mammals.
Aging traits in humans include some benefits, in particular the increased knowledge and wisdom over time. However most of the biological changes during human aging are detrimental causing weakness and eventually death. In Human, age-related problems cause about 100,000 deaths worldwide each day.
The rate of aging is affected by several factors; but two of them are critical for body maintenance: 1) the accumulation of oxidative damage; 2) the intrinsic cell senescence. Thus, overcome these obstacles would dramatically improve the quality of aging.
Research Interests
- Evolution of Aging:
Most diseases that affect humans are age-related. Therefore, I believe the first step to improve the quality of life is to understand the reasons for aging.
My interest is to investigate why and how evolution has created a huge array of aging rates among species. I intend to explore the evolution of aging by theoretical and experimental studies. At the moment, we are analyzing the changes in longevity of fruit flies populations evolving in different stress conditions. - Biology of Aging:
Regardless whether it should be thought of as a disease, I believe that aging should be considered the most important barrier to improving quality of life.
My interest is to develop a stem cell therapy to ameliorate the age-related loss of body homeostasis. This kind of therapy could decrease diseases and increase longevity. I am interested in using a mice model to develop such therapy.