Cellular Aging as an Information–Entropy Process: Rethinking the Biological Arrow of Time

This foundational article proposes a paradigm shift in our understanding of cellular aging. Moving beyond the traditional model of aging as a passive accumulation of molecular damage, we conceptualize it as a directed process of information degradation and increasing system entropy. We argue that the core of aging is the progressive erosion of structured biological information—across genomic, epigenetic, proteomic, and network scales—coupled with a loss of regulatory fidelity. This information–entropy framework grounds the phenomenon of aging in the universal principles of thermodynamics and information theory, providing a unifying explanation for its directionality and systemic nature. The article outlines the theoretical foundations of this view, synthesizes key empirical evidence, and explores its transformative implications for redefining longevity research and therapeutic strategies.