Increasing weakness with age is not a law of nature!

Washington – A new study has suggested that aging is not just about weakening and dying, instead in nature the phenomenon of ageing shows an unexpected diversity of patterns and is altogether rather strange.

Researchers from The University of Southern Denmark have found that not all species weaken and become more likely to die as they age. Some species get stronger and less likely to die with age, while others are not affected by age at all.

The researchers studied ageing in 46 very different species including mammals, plants, fungi and algae, and they surprisingly find that there is a huge diversity in how different organisms age.

Some become weaker with age – this applies to e.g. humans, other mammals, and birds; others become stronger with age – this applies to e.g. tortoises and certain trees, and others become neither weaker nor stronger – this applies to e.g. Hydra, a freshwater polyp.

“Many people, including scientists, tend to think that ageing is inevitable and occurs in all organisms on Earth as it does for humans: that every species becomes weaker with age and more likely to die. But that is not the case”, lead author Owen Jones from the Max-Planck Odense Center at the University of Southern Denmark, said .

The study was published in scientific journal Nature.