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How senescence and the environment shape fitness in the wild

Objectif

Senescence, the age-related deterioration in physiological function during adulthood, is a major cause of late-life disease and mortality in human and wild animal populations. Recent laboratory studies have identified key molecular pathways underpinning senescence, but we lack understanding of how environmental and genetic variation interact to shape these pathways and their evolution. Long-term studies of wild animals offer powerful systems to address this knowledge gap. Currently, this potential is limited by a lack of methods to measure relevant biological pathways in the wild and availability of life-long samples paired with suitably detailed genetic, environmental and fitness data.

‘Biological ageing clocks’ combine minimally invasive sampling, machine learning and ’omics data to robustly predict age, health and mortality risk across human populations. The power of epigenetic and immune ageing clocks to help predict and understand human senescence is well established, but their application in the wild remains limited.

ECOAGE will generate new large-scale methylation and immunological data from one of the most detailed studies of a wild animal available, the St Kilda Soay sheep project. Using 41 years of blood sampling and data collection, we will test how interactions among genetics, environmental conditions and epigenetic ageing shape among-individual differences in adult fitness. We will use new immunological data to build the first immune ageing clock for a wild animal and test how changes in immune function during adulthood influence survival and reproduction under natural infection pressures.

ECOAGE will build a powerful bridge between field-based studies of ageing and laboratory and human research focussed on the molecular basis of senescence, transforming our understanding of why senescence varies under natural conditions and how this variation shapes the evolutionary ecology of wild populations.

Champ scientifique (EuroSciVoc)

Mots‑clés

Programme(s)

Thème(s)

Régime de financement

HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants

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Appel à propositions

(s’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre) ERC-2025-ADG

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Institution d’accueil

THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
Contribution nette de l'UE
€ 2 496 928,00
Adresse
OLD COLLEGE, SOUTH BRIDGE
EH8 9YL Edinburgh
Royaume-Uni
Région
Scotland Eastern Scotland Edinburgh
Type d’activité
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Liens
Coût total
Aucune donnée

Bénéficiaires (1)