A Unified Energy Landscape Framework for Development and Aging

Development and aging are commonly treated as distinct biological processes, governed respectively by gene regulatory programs and the gradual accumulation of molecular damage. Here we instead frame both phenomena within a single dynamical system, in which cellular states evolve as stochastic trajectories on a deformable energy landscape shaped by chromatin organization, transcriptional regulation, metabolism, and mechanical constraints. Within this formulation, stable cell identities correspond to attractor states, while differentiation emerges as relaxation toward these states under the combined influence of deterministic forces and stochastic fluctuations. In contrast, aging arises from a progressive loss of landscape stability, characterised by reduced barrier heights and increased noise, culminating in a transition toward a fluctuation-dominated regime. Spatial extensions of the model reproduce the breakdown of tissue coherence and the emergence of heterogeneous patterns observed in aging systems. This framework provides a quantitative link between epigenetic drift, transcriptional variability, and tissue-level dysfunction, and suggests that interventions targeting stability—rather than damage alone—may offer a principled route to modulating aging trajectories.