Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2005 Mar;126(3):439-43.
doi: 10.1016/j.mad.2004.09.008.

What accounts for the wide variation in life span of genetically identical organisms reared in a constant environment?

Thomas B L Kirkwood  1 , Martin Feder, Caleb E Finch, Claudio Franceschi, Amiela Globerson, Christian Peter Klingenberg, Kelly LaMarco, Stig Omholt, Rudi G J Westendorp
Affiliations

What accounts for the wide variation in life span of genetically identical organisms reared in a constant environment?

Thomas B L Kirkwood et al. Mech Ageing Dev. 2005 Mar.

Abstract

Individual organisms show marked variability in life span, even when they are of the same genotype and are raised in a common environment protected from extrinsic hazards. This intrinsic variability of life span is thought to arise from the stochastic nature of the cellular and molecular mechanisms controlling development and ageing. In this article we review what is currently understood about the factors underlying the variability of life span and consider the implications for research that aims to improve the predictability of health in old age.

PubMed Disclaimer

LinkOut - more resources