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Cells are under constant onslaught from several intrinsic and extrinsic stressors, which lead to the occurrence and accumulation of molecular damage, functional impairment, aging, and eventual death. Protein misfolding is both a cause and a consequence of increased cellular stress. An age-related failure of the complex systems for handling protein misfolding results in the accumulation of misfolded and aggregated proteins, and consequent conformational diseases. However, some misfolded proteins have been found to be both toxic and, in some cases, protective, highlighting the various complex, dynamic, and interdependent mechanisms at play. Molecular mechanisms are being elucidated for the occurrence of protein misfolding and for its prevention by chaperones and various pathways of degradation. Insights from the knowledge about proteodynamics are likely to impact future interventional strategies to counter stress and to promote healthy aging by preventing and/or treatment of protein conformational diseases.

The eye being our window to the world and one of the major components of our neurological system as well, like any other part of the body, is also affected by aging. The eye is one of the oldest remnants of evolution, and its importance can be seen from the fact that even evolutionarily primitive organisms had some rudimentary form of an eye. However, vision is one of those aspects of life that are easily taken for granted, and it is only when one starts to lose vision that one realises its importance. Understanding agerelated changes of the eye and the consequent diseases of the eye during aging is an extremely important issue with respect to any discussion about improving the quality of life in old age. Therefore, this book is a welcome and timely contribution towards that goal. The book is a compilation of 22 well-written chapters by 30 authors involved in basic research and clinical management of the problems of the aging eye. Although the book has not been clearly divided into identifiable sections as such, one could group the chapters in two major sections. The first group is the one in which each chapter describes one particular structure of the eye and its development and the telltale signs of aging, and the second group contains articles with a clinical focus dealing with one or more diseases of the eye. The last couple of chapters deal with practical suggestions and advice for the rehabilitation of low vision people, and for the protection of the eyes in the elderly. Cellular aging in the eye and its relevance to eye diseases is an issue that is only beginning to be looked at in detail. Therefore, the first chapter by L. Cerulli gives an overview of aging as the major risk factor in eye disease, and also discusses the more subtle changes that take place within the eye that are not easily visible but still impact a lot on the eye’s capacity to heal itself. Chapter 2 by J. Fehr and Z. Olah deals with the first obvious external part of the eye, the eyelid—one of the tissues that visibly show the effects of aging. A feature of the book in general is that no structure of the eye, be it the eyelid, or the lens or the retina and so on, is given preference over the other, and a balanced treatment is maintained. Another point worth mentioning is that in line with the systematic nature of the chapters, the first few chapters systematically take you through each of the important structures of the eye starting from the outside and then going on to the inside and innermost parts of the eye. Thus the editors have, in effect, created a visual map for the reader, and the visualisation works just like a ray of light that first enters the eye through the cornea, followed by its passage through the lens, the iris, the vitreous, and the retina until it hits the nervous system. Chapter 3 by P. Artal describes the general optics of the eye and the effect of normal aging on these optics. The real journey into the R. V. Basaiawmoit (&) S. I. S. Rattan Deparment of Molecular Biology, University of Aarhus, Gustav Wieds Vej 10C, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark e-mail: rvb@inano.dk