**Factors Influencing Maximum Lifespan**:
– Multiple factors influence maximum lifespan.
– Genetic mutations, metabolic pathways, and environmental conditions play a role.
– Studies in model organisms provide insights into longevity mechanisms.
– Understanding these factors can inform strategies for promoting healthy aging.
– Research in diverse species contributes to the understanding of maximum lifespan.
**Research Data on Lifespan**:
– Mitochondria in different species show variations in free-radical leakage.
– Mitochondrial membrane fatty acid saturation correlates with maximum lifespan.
– Telomere rate of change inversely correlates with maximum lifespan.
– Antioxidant enzyme levels affect maximum lifespan.
– DNA repair is directly correlated with maximum lifespan.
**Increasing Maximum Lifespan**:
– Caloric restriction can extend maximum lifespan in some animals.
– Fruit flies benefit from calorie restriction at any age.
– Biomedical molecular engineering may extend maximum lifespan.
– Anti-aging drugs could potentially extend life.
– Researcher Aubrey de Grey advocates for strategies to reverse aging.
**Correlation with DNA Repair Capacity**:
– DNA damage is linked to determining maximum lifespan.
– Deficiencies in DNA repair genes can accelerate aging.
– Nucleotide excision repair capacity correlates with lifespan.
– PARPs enzymes play a role in DNA repair and longevity.
– Poly(ADP ribosyl)ation capability is linked to mammalian longevity.
**Notable Longevity Records**:
– Oldest cat ever – Creme Puff, lived for 38 years and 3 days.
– World’s oldest polar bear.
– Longevity of Mus musculus (house mouse).
– Bowhead whales as potentially the world’s oldest mammals.
– Greenland sharks as the longest-lived vertebrates on Earth.
Maximum life span (or, for humans, maximum reported age at death) is a measure of the maximum amount of time one or more members of a population have been observed to survive between birth and death. The term can also denote an estimate of the maximum amount of time that a member of a given species could survive between birth and death, provided circumstances that are optimal to that member's longevity.
Most living species have an upper limit on the number of times somatic cells not expressing telomerase can divide. This is called the Hayflick limit, although this number of cell divisions does not strictly control lifespan.