Editing Senescence (section)

==== Disposable soma ====
{{Main|Disposable soma theory of aging}}
The disposable soma theory of aging was proposed by [[Tom Kirkwood|Thomas Kirkwood]] in 1977.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book|first=Tom|last=Kirkwood|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/437175125|title=Time of Our Lives : the Science of Human Aging.|date=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-802939-7|oclc=437175125|access-date=31 January 2022|archive-date=15 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231115062955/https://search.worldcat.org/title/437175125|url-status=live}}</ref> The theory suggests that aging occurs due to a strategy in which an individual only invests in maintenance of the soma for as long as it has a realistic chance of survival.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Hammers M, Richardson DS, Burke T, Komdeur J | title = The impact of reproductive investment and early-life environmental conditions on senescence: support for the disposable soma hypothesis | journal = Journal of Evolutionary Biology | volume = 26 | issue = 9 | pages = 1999–2007 | date = September 2013 | pmid = 23961923 | doi = 10.1111/jeb.12204 | hdl-access = free | s2cid = 46466320 | hdl = 11370/9cc6749c-f67d-40ab-a253-a06650c32102 }}</ref> A species that uses resources more efficiently will live longer, and therefore be able to pass on genetic information to the next generation. The demands of reproduction are high, so less effort is invested in repair and maintenance of somatic cells, compared to [[germline cell]]s, in order to focus on reproduction and species survival.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kirkwood TB, Rose MR | title = Evolution of senescence: late survival sacrificed for reproduction | journal = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences | volume = 332 | issue = 1262 | pages = 15–24 | date = April 1991 | pmid = 1677205 | doi = 10.1098/rstb.1991.0028 | bibcode = 1991RSPTB.332...15K }}</ref>