Approved research

Reproductive patterns and ageing rate diversity

Lay summary

Many species alter their survival, ageing rate, and life-history in response to the timing of reproduction. These responses can be adaptive, such that ageing rates within individuals change in response to reproductive patterns. This research aims to examine human patterns of ageing and reproduction, in an attempt to discover and understand any equivalent pattern in human populations. Discovery of these trends requires an analysis that accounts for lifestyle and socioeconomic factors, factors that adversely affect health such as smoking and drinking, and factors that modify the natural age at reproduction such as oestrogen receptor genes. Once these factors are accounted for, we can use the UK biobank to discover whether the the pattern of human reproduction drives fundamental changes in the way we age.