Methuselah re-visited: Social and Biological Determinants of Life Spans

Instructors: James Carey, Department of Entomology, College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences
Debra Judge, Department of Anthropology, College of Letters and Science

Description: Why do some people die at 60, others at 80, and a few at 100? Why do some species live a few weeks and others scores of years? How important are genetic factors in determining how long an individual will live? How much can longevity be extended by a few genetic or environmental manipulations? It might be expected that the answers to these questions; and the determinants of longevity more generally; are well understood. They are not. Research on the determinants of longevity is emerging as an important topic for both social scientists (especially in demography, sociology, human development and gerontology) and biological scientists (especially in epidemiology, genetics, evolutionary ecology, and molecular, cell and comparative biology). Animal models used in exploring these questions include fruit flies, nematode worms, yeast, and some mammals. A new field of bio-demography is beginning to develop. The little that is known has largely been learned within the past few years and new findings are emerging at an accelerating rate. The goals of this seminar are to discuss with students theoretical, methodological, and empirical issues concerned with aging and longevity, to consider approaches and interpretations from various disciplines, and to examine promising areas for further research.

Format: Students will be expected to do weekly reading, participate in class discussion, write a 1500-2000 word term paper on a topic related to longevity determinants, and make a 20 minute oral presentation to the group in their term paper topic.

Grading: Students will be graded on the quality of their participation, thinking, and arguments during in-class discussion (40%), on the quality of their term paper (40%) and their oral presentation (20%).

About the Instructors: Professor Carey is a professor in the Department of Entomology with research interests in the demography and ecology of aging. He is the Principal Investigator for the NIH-funded project "Oldest Old Mortality in the Mediterranean fruit fly" which is concerned with the use of medfly as a model to address questions about life span limits, gender differences in longevity, and mortality patterns at extreme ages.

Dr. Judge is a post-doctoral research and occasional Lecturer in Anthropology and Environmental Studies at UCD. Her research interests are in the evolution of family relations in vertebrates. She has published parental investment and kin selection studies of contemporary human resource allocation and is now pursuing comparative studies of the socioecology of vertebrate animals with the potential for relatively long life.