Biological immortality: Ageing, Its Exceptions, and Its Limits

This lecture explores how different organisms challenge our understanding of ageing, focusing on sharks, crocodilians, and the remarkable Turritopsis dohrnii. From slow ageing and long lifespans to negligible senescence and even the ability to revert to earlier life stages, these examples reveal that ageing is far more variable than commonly assumed.

Using these case studies, the talk explains what scientists actually mean by ageing, how it operates at a biological level, and why it differs so dramatically across species. It then addresses the key question: if such variation exists in nature, why do humans still age?

The speaker

Ben Nuttall studied Ancient History and Classical Archaeology at the University of Leicester, and Animal and Plant Sciences at the University of Sheffield, giving him an interdisciplinary academic background spanning both the natural sciences and the historical world.

He is the author of Sharks: Guardians of the Ocean, an exploration of shark biology, behaviour, and their ecological importance, and Leviathans of the Deep, which examines the evolution and diversity of ancient marine reptiles.

He is currently working on Before Bosworth, a historical study examining the political and social landscape leading up to the Battle of Bosworth Field, as well as a non-fiction science project focused on ageing and the biological limits of the human body.