5 ms·

> Evolution needs death to work. Hence death is built-in. Yes, but life duration is an equation. The main component of that equation is parasite load. > Here'

by maratd 11y ago

> Evolution needs death to work. Hence death is built-in. Yes, but life duration is an equation. The main component of that equation is parasite load. > Here's how I see it: if an organism arose which had this "death gene" turned off, it would not adapt to sudden changes in the environment. It's not about sudden changes. Those almost never happen. It's about the Red Queen. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Queen_hypothesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Queen_hypothesis Parasites are constantly shuffling their genes, so we must as well, to resist them. So going back to our equation ... life duration is directly correlated to parasite load. Tons of viruses/bacteria/etc. trying to kill you, death gene tweaks the lifespan into the low numbers to decrease the duration between variation to adapt to the parasites. Almost no parasites? You live for thousands of years. And there are creatures on this planet that do. They have few/no predators or parasites that ail them. Want to increase humanity's life span? Kill off all the parasites. Your death gene will adapt over time and increase the lifespan.

ringwalt 11y ago
Wouldn't parasites be a constant factor in the death rate? How do you explain an exponentially rising death rate? The "criminals" in the article's example are more like mutations or other damage that builds up in cells, which increase the death rate exponentially as your body's ability to catch them falls linearly over time. If you have bacteria in your bloodstream you're already in septic shock, infections can't explain, say, heart disease or most types of cancer.
- maratd 11y ago
  > Wouldn't parasites be a constant factor in the death rate? How do you explain an exponentially rising death rate? I don't think the death gene works that way. It doesn't just turn on and poof! you're dead at the exact time specified. More like a factor that controls average life span, which would result in an exponentially rising death rate. Recent research suggests it's something in the blood. http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/04/can-we-reverse-ageing-process-young-blood-older-people http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/04/can-we-revers... > If you have bacteria in your bloodstream you're already in septic shock, infections can't explain, say, heart disease or most types of cancer. Those disorders may be caused by parasites, we simply don't know. But even if they aren't ... they simply wouldn't be a part of the equation. I'm not saying this "death gene" determines lifespan absolutely. It determines it on average. Other shit can still go wrong. Like a lion might eat you.

by maratd 11y ago

ringwalt 11y ago

Wouldn't parasites be a constant factor in the death rate? How do you explain an exponentially rising death rate? The "criminals" in the article's example are more like mutations or other damage that builds up in cells, which increase the death rate exponentially as your body's ability to catch them falls linearly over time. If you have bacteria in your bloodstream you're already in septic shock, infections can't explain, say, heart disease or most types of cancer.

maratd 11y ago
> Wouldn't parasites be a constant factor in the death rate? How do you explain an exponentially rising death rate? I don't think the death gene works that way. It doesn't just turn on and poof! you're dead at the exact time specified. More like a factor that controls average life span, which would result in an exponentially rising death rate. Recent research suggests it's something in the blood. http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/04/can-we-reverse-ageing-process-young-blood-older-people http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/04/can-we-revers... > If you have bacteria in your bloodstream you're already in septic shock, infections can't explain, say, heart disease or most types of cancer. Those disorders may be caused by parasites, we simply don't know. But even if they aren't ... they simply wouldn't be a part of the equation. I'm not saying this "death gene" determines lifespan absolutely. It determines it on average. Other shit can still go wrong. Like a lion might eat you.