HMN 2026: What is aging, the status quo and a vision for the future

Historically, aging played only a minor role in biological research for a long time and was considered a marginal topic. This picture has changed fundamentally since: Scientists around the world are trying to solve the “mystery of aging” and understand what “aging” means—biologically, clinically, and socially. Today, the aging process is considered a central risk factor for a variety of diseases—from cardiovascular diseases to cancer, neurodegenerative and other age-related diseases—and is thus increasingly becoming the focus of biomedical research.

Findings from aging research open up new perspectives: They help us not only better understand the causes of age-related diseases and treat them more effectively, but could also contribute to extending healthy life expectancy. This means that aging research is becoming increasingly important not only scientifically, but also socially, because it shows us possible ways to improve quality of life, independence, and performance in old age.

Aging research in transition

The journal Nature Aging has published a Q&A that takes a closer look at the development of aging research. In the article “Past, present and future perspectives on the science of aging,” more than 50 leading international researchers from different regions and disciplines who have already published their findings in this journal look back on the progress made in aging research today. One of the contributors is Dr. Handan Melike Dönerta?, head of the “AI in Microbiome and Aging Research” research group at the Leibniz Institute on Aging–Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI) in Jena.

The article brings together findings and experiences from five decades of research. Aging is now classified as a central biological process that shapes health, disease risks, and quality of life throughout the entire lifespan. In recent decades, aging research has developed from a predominantly descriptive discipline into an integrative, mechanistic field of research.

Its focus is on the realization that biological and chronological age can differ significantly. People age individually, in complex ways, and at different rates—at the cellular, organic, and systemic levels. With the help of modern, data-driven, and systems biology approaches such as multi-omics analyses, single-cell methods, imaging, and AI-supported modeling—technologies that are also used at the Leibniz Institute on Aging–Fritz-Lipmann-Institute (FLI)—it becomes increasingly possible to capture this complexity and make aging processes measurable. For the first time, this allows the differences in aging between individuals to be precisely mapped.

In this context, it has already been possible to systematically identify key mechanisms of aging, including genomic instability, epigenetic changes, chronic inflammation, metabolic dysregulation, and the loss of cellular resilience. These insights have enabled the transition from individual hypotheses to network, systems biology models and will continue to make a key contribution to further deepening our understanding of complex aging processes in the future.

In the future, robust biomarkers will be crucial for early estimation of the risk of age-related diseases and measurement of individual aging processes. The goal is not to prolong life, but to promote healthy aging through earlier and more accurate diagnoses and better treatment options. This perspective gives aging research a clear direction for the future.

“We are very pleased that Dr. Melike Dönerta? contributed to this perspective article, once again demonstrating the important role of the FLI in the field of aging research,” emphasizes Prof. Dario Riccardo Valenzano, Scientific Director of the FLI. “Her group’s systems biology approach is exemplary for research that effectively combines large data sets, biological networks, and functional analyses to holistically understand the dynamics of aging.

“Furthermore, her contribution shows how researchers from different disciplines around the world are working together to understand aging processes at the molecular level and provide new impulses for translation into medicine.”

What will aging research look like in the future?

Interdisciplinary, forward-looking, and socially responsible: Specifically, this means that modern aging research takes social and ethical issues into account alongside biological and medical aspects. The goal is to conduct studies across populations and develop new interventions in such a way that their benefits are accessible and available in the greatest possible ways. The article in Nature Aging is therefore not only a scientific summary of what aging research was and currently is, but also provides a clear strategic orientation on how aging research can be shaped worldwide in the coming years.

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