Michael RERA

I've been working for 10 years now to build a new theoretical framework for the study of aging. Based on a discovery I made in the Drosophila fly, this new theoretical framework proposes to consider aging not as a progressive and continuous process but as consisting of two consecutive and necessary phases. The transition between these two phases is detected in vivo by increased intestinal permeability to a small food dye.

In recent years, my research team and I have shown that this theoretical framework is applicable to other model organisms (nematode, zebrafish, mouse). The experimental approaches enabled by this framework allow us to identify molecular and physiological characteristics of individuals in the second phase of their lives, and to test the effect of interventions affecting healthy life expectancy on both phases in order to better understand what mechanisms lead to aging and associated declines.