How do we measure ageing — and how do we know when it’s happening? In this episode, we explore a fascinating review of C. elegans as a model for understanding the timing, tempo, and variability of ageing.
Drawing on work from multiple studies, the paper discusses:
Why ageing is not a uniform decline, but a staggered process
How traits like movement, reproductive output, stress resistance, and gene expression decline on different timescales
The importance of individual variability even in genetically identical worms
New tools like deep learning, live tracking, and molecular clocks
What this means for developing more reliable biomarkers of ageing
Rather than a one-size-fits-all model, the worm offers a dynamic view of ageing as a distributed process — shaped by environment, genotype, and luck.
📖 Based on the research article:
“Timing is everything: measuring the tempo of ageing in Caenorhabditis elegans”
A. Cram, M.S. Riera & J. T. Nelson
Published in GeroScience (2023)
🔗 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-023-00998-w
🎧 Subscribe to the WOrM Podcast for more stories at the interface of time, biology, and behaviour.