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There are second-level effects where longevity can increase gene frequency: In a social species like humans or some whale species, the presence of parents and e

There are second-level effects where longevity can increase gene frequency: In a social species like humans or some whale species, the presence of parents and even grandparents can have positive effects on the survival of offspring, long after the older generation has stopped producing offspring. I don't know evolutionary biology enough to estimate how big of a selection pressure that is, though. Maybe much lower than first-order effects, maybe not so much. > But there is no fundamental physical reason for it, and it stands to reason we could create biological machines that maintain the power to self repair indefinitely, given suficient outside energy. Agreed.

cornholio 9y ago
I agree, I would say there is a strong second order effect for parents to see their siblings to reproductive age. As more generations stack up, any longevity effects quickly become negligible, maybe with the exception of hiper-social species with a learned culture like ourselves. Since this development is very recent, I don't think it could affect such a fundamental thing like aging. Per Google, our closest living relatives, chimps and gorillas, very rarely display grandparenting behavior and have comparable lifespans.