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How We Age: The Science of Longevity
How recent breakthroughs in longevity research offer clues about human aging
All of us would like to live longer, or to slow the debilitating effects of age. In How We Age , Coleen Murphy shows how recent research on longevity and aging may be bringing us closer to this goal. Murphy, a leading scholar of aging, explains that the study of model systems, particularly simple invertebrate animals, combined with breakthroughs in genomic methods, have allowed scientists to probe the molecular mechanisms of longevity and aging. Understanding the fundamental biological rules that govern aging in model systems provides clues about how we might slow human aging, which could lead in turn to new therapeutics and treatments for age-related disease.
Among other vivid examples, Murphy describes research that shows how changing a single gene in the nematode worm C. elegans doubles its lifespan, extending not only the end of life but also the youthful, healthy part of life. Drawing on work in her own lab as well as other recent research, Murphy chronicles the history and current state of the field, explaining longevity’s links to reproduction and mating, sensory and cognitive function, inheritances from our ancestors, and the gut microbiome. Written with clarity and wit, How We Age provides a guide to the what we know about aging, how we know what we know, and what we can do with this new knowledge.
All of us would like to live longer, or to slow the debilitating effects of age. In How We Age , Coleen Murphy shows how recent research on longevity and aging may be bringing us closer to this goal. Murphy, a leading scholar of aging, explains that the study of model systems, particularly simple invertebrate animals, combined with breakthroughs in genomic methods, have allowed scientists to probe the molecular mechanisms of longevity and aging. Understanding the fundamental biological rules that govern aging in model systems provides clues about how we might slow human aging, which could lead in turn to new therapeutics and treatments for age-related disease.
Among other vivid examples, Murphy describes research that shows how changing a single gene in the nematode worm C. elegans doubles its lifespan, extending not only the end of life but also the youthful, healthy part of life. Drawing on work in her own lab as well as other recent research, Murphy chronicles the history and current state of the field, explaining longevity’s links to reproduction and mating, sensory and cognitive function, inheritances from our ancestors, and the gut microbiome. Written with clarity and wit, How We Age provides a guide to the what we know about aging, how we know what we know, and what we can do with this new knowledge.
464 pages, Paperback
Published May 20, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 13, 2024
This is the go-to story for the details on longevity (mostly in worms). It's a good read, with humour, and a heck of a lot of technical detail and history. Lots of references to pretty much all the papers on experiments and theories. Not for the fainthearted, but if you want to catch up on the science in detail, this is the book.
June 17, 2024
Excellent Text On Aging Science
This is an academically accurate and relatively up to date book on the science of aging. it begins with older theories of aging then goes into a good deal of physiology, biochemistry and genomics. Someone complained it is filled with jargon. It is not. It is filled with science. If you haven’t read anything about biology since early high school, you will have issues reading g this book and should look for someone who wants to popularize science.
But it is dense, dense, dense. I read of much of the material elsewhere so the vocabulary and writing style was easy for me. But if you want something that tells you what to do - try Peter Attia or another author that is accurate but won’t drive you crazy with the details :-). If you want mostly details without the what to do emphasized - this is the book for you.
Practical : What to do:
Exercise, strength training, cardiovascular fitness. Healthy body weight. Don’t eat over processed foods with unhealthy additives. Make your brain have a workout. (If you are tracking your reading - you are likely doing that already)
This is an academically accurate and relatively up to date book on the science of aging. it begins with older theories of aging then goes into a good deal of physiology, biochemistry and genomics. Someone complained it is filled with jargon. It is not. It is filled with science. If you haven’t read anything about biology since early high school, you will have issues reading g this book and should look for someone who wants to popularize science.
But it is dense, dense, dense. I read of much of the material elsewhere so the vocabulary and writing style was easy for me. But if you want something that tells you what to do - try Peter Attia or another author that is accurate but won’t drive you crazy with the details :-). If you want mostly details without the what to do emphasized - this is the book for you.
Practical : What to do:
Exercise, strength training, cardiovascular fitness. Healthy body weight. Don’t eat over processed foods with unhealthy additives. Make your brain have a workout. (If you are tracking your reading - you are likely doing that already)
March 9, 2024
This book is incredibly academically rigorous , full of useful information, and not trying to sell you anything. If you are up for a science heavy and thorough explanation of ongoing research in the area this is the book for you.
However, it is also full of jargon. This book falls into the trap that many biologists fall into when they talk about their work, it feels the need to hit you with an unending stream of acronyms and protein names as if that is going to mean anything to anyone who isn't a biologist. She presents the acronyms like an academic, tells you what it is once an then expects you to keep up. This is just not a very "not-an-academic" friendly book.
However, it is also full of jargon. This book falls into the trap that many biologists fall into when they talk about their work, it feels the need to hit you with an unending stream of acronyms and protein names as if that is going to mean anything to anyone who isn't a biologist. She presents the acronyms like an academic, tells you what it is once an then expects you to keep up. This is just not a very "not-an-academic" friendly book.
January 7, 2024
Great overview with a lot of detail
I highly recommend this book for those interested in longevity research. The details here will stimulate new ideas. Read it joyfully.
I highly recommend this book for those interested in longevity research. The details here will stimulate new ideas. Read it joyfully.
October 24, 2024
A technical primer on aging science from an actual scientist. My major issue with the book comes from its final chapter, a discussion of the potential of life-extending medicine to enlarge the human lifespan. She discusses the technical details of some promising drug candidates at length, but she completely dismisses the idea that human lifespan might be extended beyond a few additional years. She doesn't even discuss the idea of radical life extension or why it wouldn't be feasible; she just says it's ridiculous and moves on.
But why is it ridiculous? Is there something in our biology that puts a hard upper limit on human lifespan? I understand that this author is cautious and scientifically trained, but there should be a place for speculation and imagination as well. Disappointing end to this book.
But why is it ridiculous? Is there something in our biology that puts a hard upper limit on human lifespan? I understand that this author is cautious and scientifically trained, but there should be a place for speculation and imagination as well. Disappointing end to this book.
January 11, 2024
This book is great. It’s the best book on the science of longevity I’ve read so far. The author is a researcher in the field and really knows her stuff. She describes the current science well, paying particular attention to experimental results from model organisms such as worms, flies, and mice. Unlike some longevity books, the author is not trying to sell supplements or give advice on how to live one’s life. Instead, she sticks to describing the science in technical detail and with a healthy dose of skepticism. This was exactly what I was looking for. I have gained much knowledge from reading this book.
February 7, 2024
Books about aging shouldn’t be politicized. The author highlights that Trump voters have poor health, heavy alcohol consumption, obesity etc and so the Republican voters in general (page 8). It’s also too technical. And it’s mostly about aging in worms and something else so if you expect to find answers or solutions how to slow down aging - you’re not going to find it in this book.
July 13, 2024
I learned a lot from the book and felt the book gave a very detailed, thorough and balanced overview of the aging literature. As a complete outsider to the literature (I am an academic Economist), I really appreciated honing in on the importance of model mechanisms (foremost worms, fruitflies and mice) in creating basic knowledge of cellular and molecular processes, and detailing how the aging literature combines experimental insights from very different animals. I also appreciated the author's own interpretations of the literature, critiques of certain directions the literature is taking (e.g. in Alzheimer's research) and ideas on where to go next.
Having said that, there were a couple of things I disliked about the book. Foremost, I felt the book would have benefitted from better editorial work. For example, there was quite a lot of repetition across different chapters without any clear cross-references. Second, the book is hard to understand for outsiders with little biology knowledge (such as me). This could have been prevented by better structuring the book. Especially the first couple of chapters are a bit all over the place and offer too little background knowledge for non-experts. It turned out that many of the later chapters were much easier to understand. Third, and somewhat of a technical point, I felt that the discussion of statistical results in the aging literature could have been improved. There was a short discussion of p-hacking and small sample sizes, but little insights as to how robust the statistical results of the rest of the literature were, too little distinction between statistically significant results and large effect sizes, and also too little discussion of the controls that were used in any of the observational studies or selection into treatment and control groups.
Having said that, there were a couple of things I disliked about the book. Foremost, I felt the book would have benefitted from better editorial work. For example, there was quite a lot of repetition across different chapters without any clear cross-references. Second, the book is hard to understand for outsiders with little biology knowledge (such as me). This could have been prevented by better structuring the book. Especially the first couple of chapters are a bit all over the place and offer too little background knowledge for non-experts. It turned out that many of the later chapters were much easier to understand. Third, and somewhat of a technical point, I felt that the discussion of statistical results in the aging literature could have been improved. There was a short discussion of p-hacking and small sample sizes, but little insights as to how robust the statistical results of the rest of the literature were, too little distinction between statistically significant results and large effect sizes, and also too little discussion of the controls that were used in any of the observational studies or selection into treatment and control groups.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Did Not Finish
April 9, 2024I got maybe 25% of the way through this on audio, and then it auto-returned to my library and I don’t think I’m motivated to continue right now.
I’m not quite sure who the audience for this book is. It reads like a (long) book-length review article - lots of detail on particular experimental set-ups and their findings (it matters whether you measure the maximum worm speed or the average worm speed, and whether their plate has food on it or not when trying to guage how active worms are at various ages!). And so many gene names and genetic techniques. Interspersed with relatively general-reader friendly sections like the one on how you measure activity / lifespan in people.
I feel like you almost have to be in the field (in which case this book might be a useful trip down memory lane / coherence maker, but didn’t you know all this already?) or a trained scientist in another field to not drown in all the details (which I sort of am, but also sort of lapsed) for the super science-heavy sections. Or maybe a student coming into the field?
This is well done for what it is, but I’m not super motivated to keep going with it right now. I listened on audio; I might have done better if I’d done it on a more skimming-friendly media like paper or kindle.
I’m not quite sure who the audience for this book is. It reads like a (long) book-length review article - lots of detail on particular experimental set-ups and their findings (it matters whether you measure the maximum worm speed or the average worm speed, and whether their plate has food on it or not when trying to guage how active worms are at various ages!). And so many gene names and genetic techniques. Interspersed with relatively general-reader friendly sections like the one on how you measure activity / lifespan in people.
I feel like you almost have to be in the field (in which case this book might be a useful trip down memory lane / coherence maker, but didn’t you know all this already?) or a trained scientist in another field to not drown in all the details (which I sort of am, but also sort of lapsed) for the super science-heavy sections. Or maybe a student coming into the field?
This is well done for what it is, but I’m not super motivated to keep going with it right now. I listened on audio; I might have done better if I’d done it on a more skimming-friendly media like paper or kindle.
Read
April 28, 2024The positive: Massively powerful if you know enough of the basics (I hold an M.Sc. in Bioinformatics). By far the most updated, detailed and factual book on longevity as per the time of writing.
The less positive: The book is not exactly a page-turner and I could have done without the reference to structural racism.
Conclusion. Five stars for the content + context. The low average rating very likely reflects most peoples lack of pre-requisite knowledge about basic molecular biology.
The less positive: The book is not exactly a page-turner and I could have done without the reference to structural racism.
Conclusion. Five stars for the content + context. The low average rating very likely reflects most peoples lack of pre-requisite knowledge about basic molecular biology.
December 11, 2023
Minuteman. Princeton University Press 2023. By a leading researcher. Well written but technical, research findings by someone who loves it, but in a field with few practical implications yet.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews