Aging is an inevitable consequence of life for nearly all organisms. It mostly reflects the outcome of complicated interactions between genetic factors along with the accumulation of a variety of deleterious stochastic changes over time. Thus, aging is an adaptive process, not caused by a single factor or process, but it is rather a multifactorial procedure modulated by the interplay among genetic and environmental factors. In the coming years, human aging will be one of the biggest challenges faced by industrialized countries as the average life expectancy is continuously increasing. This volume gathers together contributions from the top scientists and covers the whole range of modern research on aging. More specifically, the following topics are included: replicative senescence, telomeres and telomerase, cancer and aging, DNA repair, free radicals and oxidative stress, proteolysis and proteins maintenance, Immunity, neurodegeneration, model organisms, intervention as well as evolutional and epidemiological aspects. Overall, increasing our understanding of the aging process at the molecular level and applying available interventions will help to protect and preserve healthy aging. NOTE: Annals volumes are available for sale as individual books or as a journal. For information on institutional journal subscriptions, please visit www.blackwellpublishing.com/nyas. ACADEMY MEMBERS: Please contact the New York Academy of Sciences directly to place your order (www.nyas.org). Members of the New York Academy of Science receive full-text access to the Annals online and discounts on print volumes. Please visit http://www.nyas.org/MemberCenter/Join.aspx for more information about becoming a member