Reliability theory of aging and longevity
The reliability theory of aging is an attempt to apply the principles of reliability theory to create a mathematical model of aging. The theory was published in Russian by Leonid A. Gavrilov and Natalia S. Gavrilova as Biologiia prodolzhitelʹnosti zhizni in 1986, and in English translation as The Biology of Life Span: A Quantitative Approach in 1991.
One of the models suggested in the book is based on an analogy with the reliability theory. The underlying hypothesis is based on the premise that humans are born in a highly defective state. This is then made worse by environmental and mutational damage; redundancy allows the organism to survive for a while.
The book criticized a number of hypotheses known at the time, discussed drawbacks of the hypotheses put forth by the authors themselves, and concluded that regardless the suggested mathematical models, the underlying biological mechanisms remain unknown.
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