Aging: Methuselah Syndrome (Part 1)

Nova series. Reports on research that seeks to understand the body controls that cause aging. Includes segments on progeria, the spawning of Pacific salmon, thymic hormones and the immune system, age and the metabolism of sugar, findings of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging, cell research which points to a genetically programmed clock that dictates the maximum number of doublings a cell can undergo, effects of underfeeding on longevity of mice, and effects of antioxidants on aging.