Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39826039›Full record

ArticleBiogerontology2025

Beneficial death: A substantial element of evolution?

Patrick R Winterhalter, Andreas Simm

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Biogerontology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Patrick R WinterhalterClinic for Heart Surgery (UMH), Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Ernst-Grube-Straße 40, 06120, Halle (Saale), Germany. patrick.winterhalter@uk-halle.de.ORCID 0000-0003-0652-4043
Andreas SimmClinic for Heart Surgery (UMH), Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Ernst-Grube-Straße 40, 06120, Halle (Saale), Germany.

Funding

German Research Foundation grant (DGF). RTG 2155, ProMoAge
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

If a shortened lifespan is evolutionarily advantageous, it becomes more likely that nature will strive to change it accordingly, affecting how we understand aging. Premature mortality because of aging would seem detrimental to the individual, but under what circumstances can it be of value? Based on a relative incremental increase in fitness, simulations were performed to reveal the benefit of death. This modification allows for continuous evolution in the model and establishes an optimal lifespan even under challenging conditions. As a result, shorter-lived individuals achieve faster adaptation through more frequent generational turnover, displacing longer-lived ones and likely providing a competitive advantage between species. Contrary to previous assumptions, this work proposes a mechanism by which early death, e.g., due to aging, may contribute to evolution.

Indexed as

AgingBiological EvolutionLongevityModels, BiologicalAdaptation, PhysiologicalAnimalsHumansAging theoryBiogerontologyDeathEvolution simulationLongevityProgrammed aging

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.