This work presents a novel theory of aging. Building on the traditional approach to the function of the genome in multicellular organisms, the author offers an alternative means to the understanding of the fundamental processes governing the function of the cells in the context of the organism as a whole. A distinction is drawn between the causes of aging and the processes that are associated with aging. Drawing on the published experimental data, the author presents his description of the mechanisms of aging. This text is aimed not only at the biologists working on the problem of aging, but also at a broader audience that may be interested in the problems of the biology of aging.