ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2024
Reproduction has immediate effects on female mortality, but no discernible lasting physiological impacts: A test of the disposable soma theory.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Selective Breeding for Voluntary Wheel-Running Behavior in Mice is not Associated with Reduced Lifetime Reproductive Success or Lifespan Under Long-Term Paired Breeding Conditions.Behavior genetics · 2026Article
- Reproduction has immediate effects on female mortality, but no discernible lasting physiological impacts: A test of the disposable soma theory.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The disposable soma theory (DST) posits that organisms age and die because of a direct trade-off in resource allocation between reproduction and somatic maintenance. DST predicts that investments in reproduction accentuate somatic damage which increase senescence and shortens lifespan. Here, we directly tested DST predictions in breeding and nonbreeding female C57BL/6J mice. We measured reproductive outputs, body composition, daily energy expenditure, and oxidative stress at peak lactation and over lifetime. We found that reproduction had an immediate and negative effect on survival due to problems encountered during parturition for some females. However, there was no statistically significant residual effect on survival once breeding had ceased, indicating no trade-off with somatic maintenance. Instead, higher mortality appeared to be a direct consequence of reproduction without long-term physiological consequences. Reproduction did not elevate oxidative stress. Our findings do not provide support for the predictions of the DST.
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Registered trials
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