Stripping down science, the naked scientists.

The Naked Scientists. What is the biological basis of getting old and how can we prevent age-related diseases? It's Sunday the 30th of September, I'm Ben Valsler and for this week's naked scientists I'm joined by Jenny Smith.

Hello today we're looking at the science of ageing we'll find out how to stay healthier for

longer and explore the different biological approaches to

understanding how we age. Plus in the news we'll hear how a new laundry

additive could convert your clothes into pollution-busting air filters.

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We talk about the science of aging, but perhaps a more accurate term would be the sciences of aging.

Understanding age and age-related diseases involves research at every level,

from populations through individuals, their organs and separate cells and even down to the molecular

domain.

These approaches were brought together recently for a conference on aging and bioscience, hosted

by the B Abraham Institute just outside Cambridge.

And despite their different scientific backgrounds, researchers of age and age-related diseases

appreciate that it's not a purely academic problem they face.

I'm Linda Partridge and I'm director of the Institute of Healthy Aging at UCL.

A very practical problem I think is the one that many of us are trying to address,

which is how to keep people healthy as they get older, the economic impact of the ageing population on health services is just

becoming completely unmanageable. There have been a lot of headlines recently about the National

Health Service and the very complex presentations that are coming

in with a lot of old people and really the inability of the system to cope.

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