Morelia, Michigan. April 21, 2021. One of the three Latin American films that are nominated for the Oscars to be submitted on April 25 deals with the issue of aging and loneliness of the elderly. Agent Topo, the film directed by Mighty Papyrus, was considered by some critics as a production that illuminates an area that no one takes into account despite the fact that all humans will grow old.

This month, the cinema has stimulated the debate that will take place next Tuesday, April 27 at 6 pm, as part of the Scientific Coffee Program of the UNAM Cultural Center in Morelia. Participating in it is Dr. Alexandre de Luna Force, Researcher at the National Biodiversity Genomics Laboratory at CINVESTAV, Irapuato. In 2014, the Latin American Gerontology Network announced that a group of Mexican scientists led by De Luna had identified genes that influence longevity. What happened since this discovery to this day? Are we able to live a longer and healthier life? According to De Luna, aging is one of the least understood aspects of biology.

According to the latest data from INEGI from the 2020 Census, about 15 million people are aged 60 years or over, and it is recognized that the Mexican population is heading towards an aging process as the average age was 29 years in 2020.

In the contemporary lifestyle that bets on young people for long periods, it is worth noting that studies on aging began in the twentieth century in European countries. During the 1950s, the first Society for Gerontology and Gerontology was formed, and now with an interdisciplinary approach that takes into account the different biological processes and diseases in aging, the science of aging emerges.

The special insight of Dr. Alexandre de Luna and his team is to understand the relationships that exist between genes, the environment, and cell aging. From CINVESTAV they work towards a healthy, complete and happy aging for all people, leaving the aesthetic matters aside and reassessing this very important stage in human development that must stop hiding socially.

Just as cinema displays on its screens the complexity of aging and the social life of the elderly, the Science Café will engage in a conversation about the biological and natural processes that influence the achievement of a full life in the last years of humankind.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, science coffee talks are held monthly online through the Facebook profiles of UNAM Centro Cultural in Morelia and ENES Unidad Morelia on the last Tuesday of every month. The conversation is titled “What does he reveal to us?”

New Gerontology? It will take place next Tuesday, April 27 at 6:00 pm, and Alexandre de Luna, Head of Genetic Systems Laboratory at LANGEBIO in Irapuato, will participate. The Science Café activities are also shared via Twitter on MoreliaCafe.