Perspective Keep on Laying Eggs Mama, RNAi My Reproductive Aging Blues Away

The study of aging has been dominated by the analysis of degenerative changes in somatic tissues that influence life span, since the decline of life support systems is the cause of age-related death. Reproduction, which is a vital goal of all organisms, also displays an age-related decline. However, this aspect of aging has received much less attention, since the consequence is not death but rather an age-related decline in fertility. Whereas a substantial number of genetic and environmental factors have been demonstrated to influence somatic aging and life span, only a few factors are known to influence reproductive aging. I