The Salk Institute, Nature, Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology and the Fondation IPSEN are holding Processes of Aging, the third annual Symposium on Biological Complexity, from 8 to 10 January 2009, at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California. The organizers are: Yves Christen (Fondation IPSEN); Sue Deeley (Nature Publishing Group); Andrew Dillin (Salk Institute); Ron Evans (Salk Institute) Marie-Therese Heemels (Nature); Arianne Heinrichs (Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology); Fred Gage (Salk Institute); and Inder Verma (Salk Institute) – Chair.

The aging process is a multi-faceted process, where cellular aging, metabolism, the DNA damage machinery and stem cell dynamics interact to influence aging of an entire organism. Single genes can greatly alter the aging process in organisms as diverse as yeast and mice. Furthermore, it has become increasingly clear that distinct activities — which act on dividing and nondividing cells alike — protect organisms from age-related deterioration and decline. The focus of this meeting will be to decipher the mechanistic details that surround age onset, disease onset and perturbation within the aging population.

For more information and to register, please see the conference website.