Publisher Summary This chapter presents the placenta as a model for organ ageing. Tissue
culture studies have been utilized to study ageing, but their validity must await proof that
senescence of an organism is because of a summation of ageing in its constituent cells and
that the changes observed in vitro are an accurate reflection of those occurring in vivo. An
ideal vehicle for the study of ageing would be a tissue or organ that is readily available, has
a short and well-defined lifespan, and is not subject to age-related disease processes. The …