IRCAN’S SCIENTIFIC GOALS When the data on epidemiology and
pathophysiology are analyzed, aging is usually perceived as a
process that results from the combined influence of
constitutional or so-called « genetic » factors, life-style
associated factors and external events. Gerontobiology looks
into all the specific medical and biological features of aging
on the scale of the human body and develops concepts such as «
harmonious » aging, « vulnerable » and « hypercatabolic »
states, illustrating the highly heterogeneous characteristics of
the aging process. The extreme heterogeneity of aging can be
illustrated for a given age by a residual life-expectancy that
varies considerably from one individual to another and by the
onset, or not, of degenerative disorders, especially
cardiovascular and neurological diseases, bone and joint
disorders, diabetes and also neoplasms, pathologies in which
constitutional determinants and other external factors play a
role as they do in aging. The concept of cell aging, or senesc