Читать книгу General system theory of aging. Special role of the immune system - V. I. Dontsov - Страница 11

The creation of theoretical models of the process under study is the most important element of knowledge, therefore this issue is given central attention in any modern field of science.

Gerontology in this regard is experiencing a crisis related to the fact that the old principles of creating conceptual models of aging, essentially reducing to the absolutization of certain observable phenomena and particular mechanisms of aging, have collapsed. All the so-called theories of aging, which now number hundreds already, have proved to be untenable in explaining the fundamental basis of aging and in many respects are only of historical interest.

On the other hand, a number of purely mathematical approaches to the modeling of aging does not meet with interest and recognition among biologists, since even with the most superficial study one can see biologically unjustified and in fact incorrect initial prerequisites of the models.

So, for example, fashionable environmental and evolutionary mathematical theories of aging, based on the idea of “expediency of aging” as a mechanism for the accelerated renewal of the species, ignore the obvious fact of high natural mortality in the wild when old animals are virtually absent in the population and almost all animals die young.

At the same time, there is an urgent need for a clear general view of the phenomenon of aging in general, using models that allow one to quantitatively and meaningfully interpret the aging of organisms. At present, one of the most important tasks of gerontology is the rather detailed development of essential models of aging, reflecting the very essence of this common to all living phenomenon and being biologically based and biologically meaningful.

Essential models must meet the following requirements:

– a clear understanding of the biological content of each element being modeled;

– a clear understanding of the biological significance of the results obtained in the simulation;

– a clear idea of the place of the model in the system hierarchy of aging processes (which part of the more general process is described);

– consideration of external factors that fundamentally affect the process being modeled.