Right, but it puts a lie to many of the theories that involve mortality being an inevitable result of biological chemistry -- e.g. that cells can only divide so

Right, but it puts a lie to many of the theories that involve mortality being an inevitable result of biological chemistry -- e.g. that cells can only divide so many times before they MUST die. The reality is that for just about every aging related failure mode, there is an example of some animal somewhere that is able to fix or otherwise defend against that very form of damage, a proof by example that such damage is not inevitable or irreversible.