Sex and ageing

Abstract

Sex and ageing are often linked, particularly in the context of the evolutionary theories of ageing, which suggest that senescence may be the price for investing in offspring at the expense of somatic maintenance and repair. Considerable evidence supports this concept although, strictly, it is not sex per se but the existence of the soma/germ-line distinction that appears to hold the key. Other aspects of the sex-ageing axis seeing exciting new developments are the evolution of the human life history, particularly with respect to menopause, and the molecular mechanisms that sustain the immortality of the germ-line in contrast to the cumulative damage that appears to underlie the ageing of somatic cells.