From Carrel to Hayflick and back, or what we got from the 100-year cytogerontological studies

The history of gerontological experiments on cell cultures is reviewed. Cytogerontological studies and aging theories by Weismann, Carrel, Hayflick, and the author are compared. It is emphasized that the basic notion of aging mechanisms was deeply revised several times within the 20th century. It is concluded that at present the aging of multicellular organisms cannot be satisfactorily explained with the help of cytogerontological studie’s data. Experiments on cell cultures need to be combined with fundamental gerontological studies, including survival curve analysis for humans or experimental animals.