"Leben ist die schonste Erfindung der Natur und der Tod ist ihr Kunstgriff, viel Leben zu haben" . J. W. v. Goethe Life is the most beautiful invention of nature, and death is her device to exhibit most life. The eminent British biologist Sir Vincent B. Wigglesworth noted in 1939 that insects are an ideal medium in which to study all problems of physiology. Many fundamental discoveries in biology, particularly genetics and development, have been made on the basis of studies conducted in insects. Because of their ex treme adaptability and diversity, an appropriate insect model is available for the study of virtually any biological problems. The applicability to other groups, including mammals, of basic studies conducted on insects has helped in the gradual acceptance of the fundamental unity of biochemical principles as a dogma among biologists, as well as among enlightened medical scientists. With the recent upsurge of interest in the study of the aging process, in sects have been increasingly employed not only for the investigation of basic mechanisms of aging, but also to gain insight into the evolution of aging and senescence. If only one aging mechanism exists, it is foreseeable that some in sects, especially Drosophila, will help to unravel its molecular basis. Because of their diversity, existing studies in the gerontology of insects are widely scat tered in various specialized journals. This wealth of existing information has not, as yet, been brought together in a synthesized and comprehensive form.

Methuselah Flies presents a trailblazing project on the biology of aging. It describes research on the first organisms to have their lifespan increased, and their aging slowed, by hereditary manipulation. These organisms are fruit flies from the species Drosophila melanogaster, the great workhorse of genetics. Michael Rose and his colleagues have been able to double the lifespan of these insects, and improved their health in numerous respects as well. The study of these flies with postponed aging is one of the best means we have of understanding, and ultimately achieving, the postponement of aging in humans. As such, the carefully presented detail of this book will be of value to research devoted to the understanding and control of aging. Methuselah Flies: is a tightly edited distillation of twenty years of work by many scientists; contains the original publications regarding the longer-lived fruit flies; offers commentaries on each of the topics covered - new, short essays that put the individual research papers in a wider context; gives full access to the original data; captures the scientific significance of postponed aging for a wide academic audience.

Biological aging as the time-depending general decline of biological systems associated with a progressively increasing mortality risk is a general phenomenom of great significance. The underlying processes are very complex and depending on genetic and environment factors. These factors encode or affect a network of interconnected cellular pathways. In no system this network has been deciphered in greater detail. However, the strategy of studying various biological systems has let to the identification of pathways and specific modules and makes it obvious that aging is the result of different overlapping mechanisms and pathways. Some of these appear to be conserved ("public") among species, others are specific or "private" and only of significance in one or a few organisms. This volume in the series on "Biology of aging and its modulation" specifically focuses on organismic aging. The book covers research on organisms from lower to higher complexity representing examples from very diverse taxa like photosynthetic plants, fungi, sponges, nematodes, flies, birds and mammals. Such a broad treatise of this complex topic provides a comprehensive "flavor" about the current issues dealt with in this rapidly growing scientific discipline.

V.1 - Physiology of ontogeny - biology, development, and aging; v.2 - A the and the external environment; Environment aspects; The insect and the external environment; Reaction and interaction; v.3 - The insect and the external environment. II. Reaction and interaction; The insect and the external environment. III. Locomotion; The insect and the internal environment-homeostasis-I; The insect and the internal environment. Homeostasis. II; The insect and the internal environment: homeostasis III.