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If you give humans 2^53 divisions (as in that paper) and elephants have ~100x the mass of humans, as a rough estimate they would require 2^60 divisions. So abou
by nonbel 9y ago
If you give humans 2^53 divisions (as in that paper) and elephants have ~100x the mass of humans, as a rough estimate they would require 2^60 divisions. So about 7 more divisions per stem cell to live as long as the usual human (they usually don't live that long).
- nonbel 9y agoInstead of "per stem cell" that should be 7 more divisions from the zygote.
- reubenswartz 9y agoFor some of the cells, like neurons, that to a first approximation don't divide in adulthood, this seems true. But for things like blood cells that are constantly getting turned over, it seems like there would be a lot more opportunities for bad mutations in a larger creature (although as your link suggests, there seems to be some fairly strong defense against this).