# Antagonistic pleiotropy

Antagonistic pleiotropy is an idea from evolutionary biologist George C. Williams, dating to 1957. Here is the idea. A gene that helps you early in life can harm you later, after you have reproduced. Why do such genes survive? Because the force of natural selection fades with age. So a gene with a late-life cost can still spread, if its early payoff is big enough. This helps explain why aging evolved at all. It is still a leading evolutionary framework. It sits alongside two others: mutation accumulation and the disposable-soma theory.

## Sources

- Williams GC. (1957). Pleiotropy, natural selection, and the evolution of senescence. Evolution. https://doi.org/10.2307/2406060

---

_Canonical: https://longevity-switzerland.com/en/glossary/antagonistic-pleiotropy · Part of Longevity Cities · Updated 2026-06-22_