Open problems in ageing science: a roadmap for biogerontology

Angelo Talay; Aleksey V Belikov; Paul Ka Po To; Hamid H Alfatemi; Uri Alon; Joris Deelen; Collin Y Ewald; David Gems; Vera Gorbunova; Jan Gruber; Sara Hägg; John Hemming; Steve Horvath; Alaattin Kaya; Caitlin J Lewis; Andrea B Maier; Maria B Marinova; Graham Pawelec; Shahaf Peleg; Suresh Rattan; Morten Scheibye-Knudsen; Tomas Schmauck-Medina; Vardan Saroyan; Andrei Seluanov; Alexandra Stolzing; Emma Teeling; Robert W Williams; Todd White; Maximilian Unfried; João Pedro de Magalhães

doi:10.1007/s11357-025-01964-4

Open problems in ageing science: a roadmap for biogerontology

Angelo Talay
, Aleksey V Belikov
, Paul Ka Po To
, Hamid H Alfatemi
, Uri Alon
, Joris Deelen
, Collin Y Ewald
, David Gems
, Vera Gorbunova
, Jan Gruber
, Sara Hägg
, John Hemming
, Steve Horvath
, Alaattin Kaya
, Caitlin J Lewis
, Andrea B Maier
, Maria B Marinova
, Graham Pawelec
, Shahaf Peleg
, Suresh Rattan

Morten Scheibye-Knudsen, Tomas Schmauck-Medina, Vardan Saroyan, Andrei Seluanov, Alexandra Stolzing, Emma Teeling, Robert W Williams, Todd White, Maximilian Unfried, João Pedro de Magalhães

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The field of ageing science has gone through remarkable progress in recent decades, yet many fundamental questions remain unanswered or unexplored. Here we present a curated list of 100 open problems in ageing and longevity science. These questions were collected through community engagement and further analysed using Natural Language Processing to assess their prevalence in the literature and to identify both well-established and emerging research gaps. The final list is categorised into different topics, including molecular and cellular mechanisms of ageing, comparative biology and the use of model organisms, biomarkers and the development of therapeutic interventions. Both long-standing questions and more recent and specific questions are featured. Our comprehensive compilation is available to the biogerontology community on our website ( www.longevityknowledge.app ). Overall, this work highlights current key research questions in ageing biology and offers a roadmap for fostering future progress in biogerontology.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	3351-3360
Number of pages	10
Journal	GeroScience
Volume	48
Issue number	3
Early online date	8 Nov 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-025-01964-4
Publication status	Published - Jun 2026

Bibliographical note

Funding

We thank all the workshop participants and website contributors. Further thanks to Lada Nuzhna for assistance and advice throughout the project. We are also grateful to current and past members of the Genomics of Ageing and Rejuvenation Lab for valuable discussions. The project was supported by a Longevity Impetus Grant and the Hevolution Foundation. We are also grateful to the Thalion Initiative for supporting the workshop in Birmingham. The Genomics of Ageing and Rejuvenation Lab is further supported by LongeCity and the Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/V010123/1).

Funders	Funder number
Hevolution Foundation
Biological Sciences Research Council	BB/V010123/1

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Talay, A., Belikov, A. V., To, P. K. P., Alfatemi, H. H., Alon, U., Deelen, J., Ewald, C. Y., Gems, D., Gorbunova, V., Gruber, J., Hägg, S., Hemming, J., Horvath, S., Kaya, A., Lewis, C. J., Maier, A. B., Marinova, M. B., Pawelec, G., Peleg, S., ... de Magalhães, J. P. (2026). Open problems in ageing science: a roadmap for biogerontology. GeroScience, 48(3), 3351-3360. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-025-01964-4

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abstract = "The field of ageing science has gone through remarkable progress in recent decades, yet many fundamental questions remain unanswered or unexplored. Here we present a curated list of 100 open problems in ageing and longevity science. These questions were collected through community engagement and further analysed using Natural Language Processing to assess their prevalence in the literature and to identify both well-established and emerging research gaps. The final list is categorised into different topics, including molecular and cellular mechanisms of ageing, comparative biology and the use of model organisms, biomarkers and the development of therapeutic interventions. Both long-standing questions and more recent and specific questions are featured. Our comprehensive compilation is available to the biogerontology community on our website ( www.longevityknowledge.app ). Overall, this work highlights current key research questions in ageing biology and offers a roadmap for fostering future progress in biogerontology.",

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Talay, A, Belikov, AV, To, PKP, Alfatemi, HH, Alon, U, Deelen, J, Ewald, CY, Gems, D, Gorbunova, V, Gruber, J, Hägg, S, Hemming, J, Horvath, S, Kaya, A, Lewis, CJ, Maier, AB, Marinova, MB, Pawelec, G, Peleg, S, Rattan, S, Scheibye-Knudsen, M, Schmauck-Medina, T, Saroyan, V, Seluanov, A, Stolzing, A, Teeling, E, Williams, RW, White, T, Unfried, M & de Magalhães, JP 2026, 'Open problems in ageing science: a roadmap for biogerontology', GeroScience, vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 3351-3360. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-025-01964-4

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AU - Talay, Angelo

AU - Belikov, Aleksey V

AU - To, Paul Ka Po

AU - Alfatemi, Hamid H

AU - Alon, Uri

AU - Deelen, Joris

AU - Ewald, Collin Y

AU - Gems, David

AU - Gorbunova, Vera

AU - Gruber, Jan

AU - Hägg, Sara

AU - Hemming, John

AU - Horvath, Steve

AU - Kaya, Alaattin

AU - Lewis, Caitlin J

AU - Maier, Andrea B

AU - Marinova, Maria B

AU - Pawelec, Graham

AU - Peleg, Shahaf

AU - Rattan, Suresh

AU - Scheibye-Knudsen, Morten

AU - Schmauck-Medina, Tomas

AU - Saroyan, Vardan

AU - Seluanov, Andrei

AU - Stolzing, Alexandra

AU - Teeling, Emma

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AB - The field of ageing science has gone through remarkable progress in recent decades, yet many fundamental questions remain unanswered or unexplored. Here we present a curated list of 100 open problems in ageing and longevity science. These questions were collected through community engagement and further analysed using Natural Language Processing to assess their prevalence in the literature and to identify both well-established and emerging research gaps. The final list is categorised into different topics, including molecular and cellular mechanisms of ageing, comparative biology and the use of model organisms, biomarkers and the development of therapeutic interventions. Both long-standing questions and more recent and specific questions are featured. Our comprehensive compilation is available to the biogerontology community on our website ( www.longevityknowledge.app ). Overall, this work highlights current key research questions in ageing biology and offers a roadmap for fostering future progress in biogerontology.

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DO - 10.1007/s11357-025-01964-4

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SP - 3351

EP - 3360

JO - GeroScience

JF - GeroScience

IS - 3

ER -

Open problems in ageing science: a roadmap for biogerontology

Abstract

Bibliographical note

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