Aging Is Not a Defect
Longevity is often approached as a problem to solve, a pathway to correct, a marker to optimize, or a target to reach. Yet aging does not behave like a defect that can simply be fixed. Aging is a dynamic and systemic process shaped by continuous interactions between mitochondria, microbiota, metabolism, immunity, inflammation, and stress adaptation over time. Understanding these interactions is essential if we want to understand longevity itself.
From Targets to Systems
The strategy of Targeting Longevity is built on a simple but demanding idea: understand aging before attempting to correct it. Rather than focusing on isolated mechanisms, the meeting explores aging as the progressive loss of coordination between biological systems. Mitochondria, microbiota, metabolic regulation, immune balance, and redox signaling form an interconnected network that continuously adapts across the lifespan. When this coordination weakens, resilience declines.
The Mitochondria Microbiota Dialogue
At the center of this vision lies the dialogue between mitochondria and microbiota. Mitochondria regulate cellular energy and adaptive responses, while the gut microbiota shapes metabolism, immune tone, inflammation, and systemic signaling. Their interaction contributes to aging trajectories rather than isolated outcomes.
A Multidisciplinary Perspective
By bringing together scientists and clinicians from multiple disciplines, the meeting aims to move beyond reductionist models and to better understand how biological systems coordinate and adapt over time in humans as well as in companion animals.
Aging as a Trajectory
Longevity cannot be reduced to late interventions or single targets. Aging trajectories begin early, evolve dynamically, and differ across individuals and species. Preserving resilience requires understanding how biological systems interact across time.
A Strategic Goal
The goal of this meeting is not to promote a single molecule, technology, or intervention. It is to reshape how longevity is understood and approached.
Looking Forward
The future of longevity may depend less on correcting aging than on learning how living systems maintain balance over time.
We look forward to welcoming you in Berlin.
Warm regards,
Marvin Edeas, Volkmar Weissig
Chairmen of Targeting Longevity Scientific Committee