  Aging is thought to be a consequence of intrinsic breakdowns in how genetic
information is processed. But mounting experimental evidence suggests that
aging can be slowed. To help resolve this mystery, I derive a mortality
equation which characterizes the dynamics of an evolving population with a
given maximum age. Remarkably, while the spectrum of eigenvalues that govern
the evolution depends on the fitness, how they change with the maximum age is
independent of fitness. This makes it possible to establish the conditions
under which programmed aging can provide an evolutionary benefit.
