Do we get sick because we are getting old, or do we get old and therefore get sick? Kharkiv Gerontological School - eighty years later

Interest in understanding the ageing processes has always existed. The choice of methods for investigating the mechanisms of this fundamental biological phenomenon is determined by the general development of the methodology of biological and medical research. The study of highly dynamic self-organising biological systems developed along the inevitable path of reductionism, which contributed to the discovery of various stages of molecular processes and the formation of such new areas as a set of -omic sciences (genomics, transcriptomics, lipidomics, etc.). The success in understanding the molecular mechanisms of biological systems' functioning led to the realisation of the impossible complexity of integrating private mechanisms into a unified whole, particularly in the development processes and ageing as the final stage of ontogenesis. In the author's opinion, this situation has led to low efficiency of cognition of ageing processes. In this respect, it is reasonable to recall and make a retrospective analysis of the research results of one of the oldest gerontological scientific schools, such as the Kharkiv ontophysiological school of A.V. Nagorny. The review gives the characteristics of the scientific school, the stages of its formation, and the creative environment at the Kharkiv University of the 19th century, based on which the scientific school of A.V. Nagorny was formed.