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Senescence
Topic Started: Jun 8 2009, 11:52 PM (644 Views)
Ànraich
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L'évolution Spéculative est moi

I've been doing a lot of thinking and research lately on the concept of senescence (aging). There are lots of theories as to why aging occurs; DNA damage extends beyond the threshold of the bodies ability to repair it at a constant rate, progressive failure of cellular homeostasis, etc. But I recently came across a very interesting theory. Is it possible that aging evolved into organisms? That aging is an evolutionary, and therefore inheritable, trait that one can modify or even remove. Perhaps, somewhere in the DNA of most creatures, there is a specific gene that causes us to age, perhaps though destruction of the DNA itself, like a suicide gene, that we can modify so that we can achieve biological immortality like members of the hydra family and certain jellyfish.

If you think about it for a minute, aging does seems very advantageous for a species to have. It allows the species to propagate with a low risk of sudden gene mutation and limits genetic drift and also prevents the onset of cancer in organisms that do not enhance their lifespan with technology (like humans). I think that if there is an "aging gene" it probably ties in with the metabolism somehow. Mice, with their fast metabolism, live about four years while bivalves, which hardly even move, can live up to 400+ years. So perhaps aging is the gradual shutdown of the metabolism until it reaches a point at which the body simply cannot operate due to lack of resources.

Anyone care to elaborate more on senescence? Am I missing something, do you have something to add? Let's discuss.
We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.

"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming

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I partially agree, but not completely. Frankly, I beleive in a mix of ideas like the telemere theory. However, there is a drug study going on right now on a grape extract which seems to be able to reduce aging in any organism it's been used on, and there is a gene that is dormant in our body that in a few worm species can activate and extend it's life. What that gene might do in us isn't certain, but if it has a similar affect then after activating we could live for a thousand years easy.
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Ànraich
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I would love to live for a thousand years. But the time I was old, we would probably be able to extend our life by another thousand years again.
We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.

"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming

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I believe ageing happens because there is a limit to human, particularly female, reproductivity. Apparently to stay fertile for 80 years women would require ovaries the size of saucepans from birth. As women are only fertile for 40-50 years any genetic defects that kick in after childbearing age will not be selected against, as they will not effect their reproductive fitness. Over time these deleterious genes that only effect the old and infertile will collect in the gene-pool.

Analogy: Imagine a book that was AMAZING, those that were reading it would instantly recommend it to their friends who would buy more copies. Sadly these books were very very very long and nobody actually had the time to finish it. It turns out that the last 3 pages of this epic book was full of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors, but as people were recommending these books before finishing then these errors were never noticed because nobody ever reached the end. Because of this what incentive would a publisher have to get rid of these errors? Answer = none.
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Parasky
Jun 9 2009, 01:42 PM
I would love to live for a thousand years. But the time I was old, we would probably be able to extend our life by another thousand years again.
I wouldn't want to. Get very dull.
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How would it get dull? Longer you live the longer you work and the richer you get, even without interest.

The last thousand years were hardly boring, I would love to just keep going as long as I could live. Maybe you would get bored one day, but I could always top myself.
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Ànraich
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Imagine how rich you would be if you put like say $50 into a CD right now and had it sit, with any amount of interest, until you retire. One thousand years from now. Like that episode of Futarama where Fry discovers he's rich because his bank account has been compounding interest for the past millennium.
We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.

"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming

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You would be fabulously wealthy, unless everyone else did it too. Still just by saving up you could take quarter century holidays.
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SIngemeister
Jun 9 2009, 03:12 PM
Parasky
Jun 9 2009, 01:42 PM
I would love to live for a thousand years. But the time I was old, we would probably be able to extend our life by another thousand years again.
I wouldn't want to. Get very dull.
Depends who you spend it with and how you spend it. If you put up with the most annoying boring people you can imagine a second is an eternity, but the best people on Earth could make an eternity seem like a second.
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Or what you do. If you decide to live a forever to conquer the world, the time will wizz by. If you just want to lift and replace ever rock in the world, it will drag a bit.
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Ànraich
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lamna
Jun 10 2009, 01:30 PM
Or what you do. If you decide to live a forever to conquer the world, the time will wizz by. If you just want to lift and replace ever rock in the world, it will drag a bit.
Make a Turing-Complete out of rocks and simulate a universe.
We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.

"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming

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Or build a monument to something by yourself.
You could carve the faces of, the Jimmu, Meiji, Taishō and Showa Emperors into rock faces around the world if you got bored.
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Damage accrued over one's lifetime does play a role in aging but lifespan is just as susceptible to natural selection as any other aspect of an organism's lifecourse. There are two nice threads on this topic:

Science of Aging

Why does an organism decompose and die?
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Ànraich
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L'évolution Spéculative est moi

Take a look at this: http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Health/Story?id=7880954&page=1

This girls is 16 years old. She looks more like she's 16 months old. I wonder what exactly is wrong with her . . .

Is she biologically immortal? Will she simply develop and age like a human, but on a much larger scale? Will she live hundreds of years or will the shock of the synchronized development of the body kill her first?
We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.

"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming

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lamna
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Well she does seem to be ageing somewhat, I mean she does not look like a newborn.
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34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur.
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Are nipples or genitals necessary, lamna?
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