In Europe as well as Asia, population aging has a tremendous societal impact. At the same time, life science research in advanced countries like China and Europe has the potential to establish a solid understanding of cellular aging and, in the future, offer remedies for some of the flip sides of aging. Matching Chinese and German top-level academics in a discussion on aging research should generate new ideas and fuel new research.

Maintaining and extending the healthy lifespan is one of the central concerns and goals of aging research. While healthy aging has offered people and societies many new opportunities, it is undisputed that aging is a key risk factor for late-onset diseases. At the level of cells, aging brings about multiple interconnected defects. Pathological and ‘normal’ aging overlap. Several pathways or mechanisms are currently discussed (e.g., Lopez-Otin, 2013 in Cell). The conference aims to bring together experts from China and Germany to discuss such issues.