Inhaltsangabe1. Aging and cell aging: an introduction            1.1. Organ systems affected by aging             1.2. Age-associated functional alterations References 2. Cell cycle: the life cycle of a cell            2.1. Phases of the cell cycle            2.2. About cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases: proteins that trigger cell cycle                       phases            2.3. Better save than sorry: the complex control of the cell cycle            2.4. Last exit apoptosisReferences 3. Theories and mechanisms of aging             3.1. The telomere theory of aging            3.2. The DNA damage theory of aging            3.3. The sirtuins - ultimate hope or fallen star?            3.4. The impact of caloric restriction on life span            3.5. Genes that extend life in animal models            3.6. Free radical theory of aging            3.7. Protein quality control and aging            3.8. Epigenetics            3.9. A holistic view:the molecular aging matrixReferences4. Selected age-related disorders            4.1. Age:  the key risk factor for Alzheimers disease (AD)            4.2. The common biology of aging and cancer: senescence as cancer protectionReferences