Assessing aging and senescent decline in Caenorhabditis elegans: cohort survival analysis.

ABSTRACT

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans provides a versatile and expedient platform for the genetic and molecular dissection of mechanisms underlying senescent decline and aging. Indeed, pioneering studies in this organism revealed the first genes and pathways directly influencing lifespan. In this chapter, we present routine, mainstream methods, developed for monitoring aging and senescent decline in C. elegans. These procedures allow the assessment of lifespan parameters on solid growth media that are typically used for rearing nematodes.