Aging can bring even more suffering, but new research shows a bigger picture is emerging: As we reach our older years, we may actually be helping the evolution of our species. Once considered an inevitable consequence of living in a turbulent world, aging is now considered a mystery. For example, some species barely age. One of the main questions is whether aging is simply a byproduct of biology or something that has an evolutionary advantage.

The new study is based on a computer model developed by a team from the HUN-REN Ecological Research Center in Hungary, which suggests that old age, like other traits, can be positively selected for. In recent years, scientists have studied the inevitability of aging and the resulting deteriorations in the body (technically known as aging). The model suggests that it may be useful in certain situations.

“If there is selection for aging, aging may have an evolutionary function,” says evolutionary biologist Ers Satmari of the HUN-REN Ecological Research Center. “We aimed to open up this option.”

Such situations require strong directional selection, where evolutionary pressures (such as predators or environmental change) drive traits in a consistent direction; and significant kin selection, where genes have a higher chance of being passed on with the help of relatives.

“For example, it is possible that aging and death in a changing environment may be more advantageous for individuals, because competition that prevents the survival and reproduction of more fit offspring with better genetic makeup can be reduced,” says Szathmáry.

In other words, natural aging and death leaves room for a new generation that may have better combinations of genes. The researchers also suggest that the greater number of remaining generations during long-term aging in highly altruistic organisms would promote kin selection. In other words, those who help their relatives create a new generation are more likely to pass on long-term aging genes through them.

While humans as a species are obsessed with the idea of ​​stopping aging, aging appears to play an important role in terms of evolutionary advantage; a role that experts are still trying to explore and understand.

“It has been recognized in the evolutionary biology community that classical maladaptive aging theories cannot explain all patterns of aging in nature, meaning that the explanation of aging has once again become an open question,” says Szathmáry. The study was published on: BMC Biology.