Author: Melanie R. McReynolds, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, Penn State

Aging is a biological process that no one can avoid. Ideally, growing old should be a time to relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Aging also has a darker side, however, often linked to disease. Every second, your cells perform billions of biochemical reactions that fuel essential functions for life, forming a highly interconnected metabolic network. This network enables cells to grow, proliferate and repair themselves, and its disruption can drive the aging process. But does aging cause metabolic decline, or does metabolic disruption accelerate aging? Or both? To address this chicken-or-egg question, you first need to understand…