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Modeling Cellular Aging: An Introduction – Mathematical and Computational Approaches

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Cellular Ageing and Replicative Senescence

Part of the book series: Healthy Ageing and Longevity ((HAL))

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Abstract

In this chapter we examine a variety of modeling approaches that have been historically used to understand the sub-cellular and cellular biology of aging. We find that there are a large array of methods from discrete to continuous and from deterministic to stochastic. This chapter is not meant to be a comprehensive coverage of all of the modeling efforts but rather a buffet introduction to what has been done in the field over the last 50–60 years.

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Acknowledgements

In 1974 I wrote my very first mathematical modeling of aging manuscript. It was my masters dissertation while I was a student at SUNY Buffalo in the Center for Theoretical Biology. That paper was subsequently published in 1980. In the now 41 years since my initial foray into this field, my career has been touched by many individuals who have provided support and guidance to a then young graduate student trying to find her way. I simply cannot acknowledge all of you. Nevertheless, I would like to acknowledge on singular individual and dedicate this paper to him; Professor Bernard Strehler, my mentor and friend. He took an unknown young mathematical physicist who knew nothing about the biology of aging and guided her into a 44 year long career in this fascinating field of Gerontology by supporting many of her research efforts as publications in the journal Mechanisms of Aging and Development. I cannot thank him enough.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for the Study of Biological Complexity, Virginia Commonwealth University, 842030, 1000 West Cary Street, Richmond, VA, 23284-2030, USA

    Tarynn M. Witten

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  1. Tarynn M. Witten
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Correspondence to Tarynn M. Witten .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dep of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Suresh I.S. Rattan

  2. Department of Anatomy,School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, USA

    Leonard Hayflick

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Witten, T.M. (2016). Modeling Cellular Aging: An Introduction – Mathematical and Computational Approaches. In: Rattan, S., Hayflick, L. (eds) Cellular Ageing and Replicative Senescence. Healthy Ageing and Longevity. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26239-0_8

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