Mitochondrial Free-Radical Theory of Aging
by Aubrey De Grey
"...The value in de Grey's (or anyone else's) ideas does not lie in how widely accepted they are, or how many articles s/he has published, or even their "qualifications" -- but in the quality of their evidence and their logic. If you want to decide whether to "embrace" them or not, there is exactly one step absolutely required for intellectual honesty: read some of the man's work, look at his arguments and evidence, and judge for yourself. Any other approach is a combination of ad hominem and cribbing.
"BTW, so that everyone is clear: I have NOT accepted de Grey's MiFRA: although I consider it a major candidate, and believe that SOS and RHH do indeed happen in multicellular organisms and that CR inhibit them, I am not convinced that this is the actual cause of aging, or even increased oxidative stress with age. In fact, I lean more closely to Hagen/Ames' version, despite the fact that their arguments are much sloppier in logic and evidence-gathering -- their conclusions seem more likely to be right even if the arguments they advance for them are shoddy. This in no way,however, reduces my intense admiration for de Grey's razor-sharp logician's scalpel and mastery of the field."
-- Michael Rae