Mechanisms of Dietary Restriction In Aging and Disease

This volume arose from a program announcement made by the National Institutes on Aging (NIA) requesting applications to study the basic mechanisms by which dietary restriction decreases disease burden and increases life span (RFA: AG–01–002, ‘Molecular and neural mechanisms underlying the effects of caloric restriction on health and longevity’). Most of the applicants who were funded had long been fascinated with the significance of this phenomenon, potentially the most far-reaching in biomedical science. A particularly valuable aspect of this program announcement was the requirement that funded applicants, along with a few other selected invitees, were to meet near the NIH on an annual basis to present and discuss their most recent results, published and unpublished.