Meeting report: British Society for Research on Ageing (BSRA) annual scientific meeting 2012, Aston University, Birmingham, 3rd to 4th July 2012.

The focus of the British Society for Research on Ageing (BSRA) annual scientific meeting 2012 was aging mechanisms and mitigants. The themes covered included epigenetics, stem cells and regeneration, aging pathways and molecules, the aging bladder and bowel, as well as updates from the New Dynamics of Ageing (NDA) programme. The topics incorporated new directions for staple aging research in caloric restriction (CR), inflammation, immunesenescence, neurodegeneration, homeostasis and stress resistance, as well as newer research areas such as bioengineering of tissues, including the internal anal sphincter and thymus.