A&S300	Spring 2006						Name:
Exam 1

You may NOT use any books, notes, or related materials to complete this exam.  
Give brief answers!

1.  Define aging.  Answer with 1-3 sentences.

2.  Label the figures descibing below aspects of mortality and survival.
 A. Log(Mortality)
 B. Survival
 C. Mortality

3.  Describe aging in semelparous animals, and give an example.

4. Give an example of an animal that is longer-lived than expected for its size and metabolic rate.

5. Describe the aging phenotype, at least two aspects of:
 a. Organismal or physiological aging.

b. Cellular aging.

6.  Briefly describe why animals age including the evolutionary forces that lead to aging.

7.  Name and describe one of the progerias.
a. Name:

b. Clinical features (list 2-3).

c. Gene that causes the disorder:

d. What is the biological function of the gene?

e. How do mutations in the gene lead to the progeria?

8. Describe one of the diseases of aging.
a. Name:

b. What is the cellular origin or cause of the disease?

c. Why is this disease considered to be a disease of aging? 

9. What do Thomas Parr, Charlie Smith, and Shirali Muslimov have in common?

10.  What is the mortality doubling time for human populations?  The best estimates are drawn from data on death rates from age 40 onwards to eliminate confounding factors such as high childhood mortality.  If you don’t know the actual figure, for partial credit describe why gerontologists are interested in measuring it, i.e. what does it tell you?