Decelerating ageing and biological clocks by autophagy

Ageing is the most important risk factor for the majority of human pathologies. We propose the concept that the advancement of the hallmarks of ageing is dictated by several distinct biological clocks that can be decelerated by the induction of autophagy. This 'time dilation' delays the time-dependent manifestation of multiple diseases. Kroemer and Lopez-Otín discuss how the induction of autophagy could slow down human ageing and thus also delay the onset of ageing-associated diseases, by decelerating biological clocks.