Biogerontology
Biogerontology is the sub-field of gerontology concerned with the biological processes of aging and their evolutionary origins. It involves interdisciplinary research on biological aging's causes, effects, and mechanisms. Conservative biogerontologists such as Leonard Hayflick have predicted that the human life expectancy will peak at about 92 years old, although the consensus now is that the numbers will continue to rise.
The multidisciplinary focus of gerontology and biogerontology means that there are a number of subfields, ... (Biogerontology Net, retrieved by Dr. Robelyn Garcia, 2010)
Biomedical gerontology, also known as experimental gerontology and life extension, is a sub-discipline of biogerontology that endeavors to slow, prevent, and even reverse aging in both humans and animals. Approaches include curing age-related diseases and slowing down the underlying processes of aging. Most "life extensionists" believe the human life span can be increased within the next century, if not sooner. Optimists such as Aubrey de Grey estimate that the first person to live to a thousand years may have already been born. Some biogerontologists take an intermediate position, emphasizing the study of the aging process as a means of mitigating aging-associated diseases, while either claiming that maximum life span cannot be altered or that it is undesirable to try.
As with biogerontology, geriatrics studies the biological causes and effects of aging. Both fields are considered by many scientists to be the most important frontiers in aging research.
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