Testing two evolutionary theories of ageing by using public genome-wide data
Year: 2017
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Old age comes coupled with frailty and disease and, thus, the ageing of the World’s population have spurred the interest on the causes and mechanisms of senescence. Senescence has long been a mystery, with no single universally accepted theory accounting for its ultimate evolutionary causes (if indeed these causes exist). Perhaps two of the most popular evolutionary explanations proposed so far are the Mutation Accumulation Theory of Senescence proposed by Peter Medawar in 1951 and the Antagonistic Pleiotropy Theory of Senescence, suggested by George C. Williams in 1957. The large amount of data derived from Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) obtained over the last decade allows testing of both theories, provided that they can make predictions in terms of the genetic architecture of complex disease. However, if we want to take advantage from GWAS data, we need to assure that they are sound, replicable and that they contain information that is useful for our purposes. This PhD thesis deals with both goals: we first assess the quality and replicability of information on genome-disease associations and then we use it to explore the Mutation Accumulation and Antagonistic Pleiotropy theories of senescence. Knowledge about the impact of these theories will be important for an increasingly ageing population.
Authors: Rodríguez Pérez, Juan Antonio
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2806780267