Is Repeated DNA Damage Response Activation a Meaningful Cause of Aging?

The useful part

One of the more interesting new concepts in aging research is that repeated activation of the DNA damage response may cause epigenetic changes in the management of nuclear DNA structure that are characteristic of aging. It neatly explains how stochastic DNA damage to unused DNA sequences can possible contribute to aging. It also frames partial epigenetic reprogramming as a true rejuvenation therapy, one of the reasons why there is a great deal of funding for that line of work.

How it works

• The mechanistic evidence to date is suggestive, but as usual the question is less whether the mechanism exists and more whether it provides a meaningful contribution to degenerative aging.
• Maybe those epigenetic changes are largely the result of other processes, […]