Journal of Heredity 2003:94(5)
© 2003 The American Genetic Association 94:432
Book Review |
Longevity: The Biology and Demography of Life Span
J. R. Carey. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 2003. 278 pp.This book comprehensively summarizes—in a most detailed fashion—the numerous experiments carried out by the author and his colleagues on the susceptibility of the Mediterranean Fruitfly ("medfly," or Ceratitis capitata) to environmental challenges. The experiments focused on irradiation, protein or sugar deprivation, crowding, and isolation, among other problems. We find that the investigators chose the medfly as a major experimental species (1) because of the medfly's availability in a large breeding colony in Mexico, and (2) because very large numbers of flies (millions) could be studied, thus giving statistical validity to the experiments. In fact, the pages comprise much of these statistics, offering numerous graphs and curves that display the effects of the challenges presented to these flies and provide results. Details of the varied experimental procedures are included as well.
James Carey is interested in presenting these data in order to show the complexity of life span analysis and develop a better understanding of why seemingly uniform populations of flies (and perhaps other animals) have such very different longevities. Among other results, a linkage emerges that strongly supports life span dependence on reproductive history. However, the reason why some flies live significantly longer than others remains largely hidden.
Carey's book contains ten chapters and has an exhaustive bibliography to all imaginable references on aging and life span. Following the presentation of the large data sets, chapters on "General Biodemographic Principles" and "A General Theory of Longevity" and an "Epilogue" are presented. Here, Carey compares the fly experiments with data from other taxa whose longevity is summarized and, finally, he comes to make his results and scientific thoughts referable to human longevity. He reckons that "the theory suggests that life span as a measure of length of life should be considered more central to life history than has been the case," as it is generally absent from texts in ecology and biology. Reading the final "Epilogue" was most enjoyable, as here the author presents some of his philosophical views on longevity in the context of life span theory and broader biological meaning.
I found Longevity to be very informative, but it was hard, tedious reading for someone outside the field of study. Nevertheless, its contents are clearly authoritative, and the book will be often referred to as providing a most comprehensive data set that analyzes longevity, otherwise available only anecdotally from extremely small numbers of animals with very heterogeneous genetic backgrounds and life experiences. Gerontologists will need access to this volume.
Department of Pathology
UCSD Medical Center
San Diego, CA 92103
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