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"Society might need death, but I still want to live forever." This occurs in cell populations - the programmed self-death of cells (apoptosis) becomes corrupte
by rsync 11y ago
"Society might need death, but I still want to live forever."
This occurs in cell populations - the programmed self-death of cells (apoptosis) becomes corrupted and the individual cell acts selfishly (relative to the organism) and stays alive.
We have a word for this phenomenon and that word is "cancer".
- abandonliberty 11y agoI enjoyed this metaphor even though it's a bit misleading. Suspension of apoptosis is necessary, but not sufficient, for cancer. We have plenty of non-cancerous cells that rarely or never undergo apoptosis such as neurons or stem. The implication that immortality = cancer does not follow.
- restalis 11y ago"The implication that immortality = cancer does not follow." Indeed, cellular immortality may be cancer when it gets against apoptosis and it's just a natural thing when not. Cancer as well comprises a wider range of anomalous cellular developments that most often does not turn off the apoptosis. The metaphor however was about selfishness, on individual organism and cell level.