Aubrey de Grey

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title: Aubrey de Grey slug: aubrey-de-grey category: researchers summary: Gerontologist and founder of the SENS (Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence) framework, which classifies aging damage into seven categories and proposes engineering-style repair for each. lastUpdated: 2026-05-17 tags: [de grey, SENS, damage repair, longevity] references:

• "de Grey, A. D. N. J. & Rae, M. Ending Aging. St. Martin's Press (2007)."

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Background

Aubrey de Grey trained in computer science and self-trained in biogerontology. He founded the SENS Research Foundation in 2009 and is now president of the LEV Foundation (Longevity Escape Velocity).

The SENS framework

SENS organises aging damage into seven categories and proposes a repair strategy for each:

1. Cell loss / atrophy — stem-cell and growth-factor therapies.
2. Cell senescence — selective ablation (senolytics).
3. Nuclear mutations / epimutations — primarily cancer-targeting therapies (the WILT proposal).
4. Mitochondrial mutations — allotopic expression of the 13 mtDNA-encoded proteins from the nucleus.
5. Intracellular junk — lysosomal augmentation (e.g. novel hydrolases for indigestible material).
6. Extracellular junk — immunotherapy against amyloids.
7. Extracellular crosslinks — small molecules to break advanced glycation end-product crosslinks.

Reception

The SENS approach has been controversial among mainstream gerontologists. Its “damage repair” framing is now more accepted than when introduced; specific subprojects have produced peer-reviewed advances. de Grey himself remains a polarising figure and his public claims about timelines are not shared by most working geroscientists.

Related entries

See also: Senolytics, Loss of proteostasis, Mitochondrial dysfunction.