35 replies to this topic

[Heliotrope]

So I guess most people don't live long enough to be majorly affected by H limit? Eventually we'd live long enough. We can tinker with telomeres while controlling potential cancer development. i don't like the idea of a limit at all. if we can make almost all of our cells immortal while doing all the other right things, it would be a big step toward biological immortality.

Edited by HYP86, 03 July 2008 - 10:44 PM.

[VictorBjoerk]

What about non-aging animals and the Hayflick limit?

[Heliotrope]

What about non-aging animals and the Hayflick limit?

are there truly non-aging animals

[Mind]

What about non-aging animals and the Hayflick limit?

If the theory maestro949 mentioned earlier is correct (Hayflick limit is not a major factor in aging) then perhaps the non (or very slow) aging organisms just have better mechanisms for cleaning up junk and replacing worn out cells (better than humans that is).

[Prometheus]

This site should have a wiki for concepts such as the Hayflick limit (HL) and how it impacts aging.

For clarification: The HL is associated with telomerase negative cells (cells where telomerase is silenced). Certain stem cells are telomerase positive and only become negative when they have undergone differentiation. Therefore, so long as there are enough of these stem cells around, the HL should not have any impact on aging. It is only when the stem cell pools harboring telomerase positive stem cells become depleted (the mechanism for that is another story) that aging, as a result of impaired regeneration and maintenance, manifests.

Remember, the cells in some tissues such as the lining of the gut turn over as often as once every 24 hours. If the HL was the sole factor involved that tissue would only last for 50 days before falling apart!

[Heliotrope]

For clarification: The HL is associated with telomerase negative cells (cells where telomerase is silenced). Certain stem cells are telomerase positive and only become negative when they have undergone differentiation. Therefore, so long as there are enough of these stem cells around, the HL should not have any impact on aging. It is only when the stem cell pools harboring telomerase positive stem cells become depleted (the mechanism for that is another story) that aging, as a result of impaired regeneration and maintenance, manifests.

Remember, the cells in some tissues such as the lining of the gut turn over as often as once every 24 hours. If the HL was the sole factor involved that tissue would only last for 50 days before falling apart!

it sort of makes sense, of course the intestines are designed to last a lifetime! if there're enough stem cells w/in our bodies, then no worry, we'd little by little turn over the tissues constantly, and replacing excreted ones w/ fresh cells. HL won't come into play.

there're tissues like in the brain that don't do the cell divisions , at least not a whole lot of it. Not long ago, consensus was we're born w/ all the brain cells we're ever gonna get and no more , but we know there's neurogenesis and creation of new neurons are good (more brain:). for LE/imm, the brain is really the most important organ tho, and so not sure if HL'll ever influence brain. For our current Tech level, when brain-death occurs, our identity ceases/life ends. If brains last long enough for HL to made a diff to us, then we worry.

bio-techs may solve these and many other problems if we'd want our brains to continually fxn well for centuries, even millenia in organic form (if the brain implant device, brain-chips, brain-comp interface etc don't work out)

Edited by HYP86, 07 December 2008 - 04:56 AM.