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Think of telomeres like a counter at the DNA level. Each time the cell reproduces, it loses a counter. Eventually it runs out of counters and dies. To extend l
by Consultant32452 5y ago
Think of telomeres like a counter at the DNA level. Each time the cell reproduces, it loses a counter. Eventually it runs out of counters and dies. To extend life you have to add telomeres. And you have to do it in an extremely careful way that still manages to control cancer.
In a sci-fi hypothetical where nanobytes can do arbitrary behaviors, sure, maybe they could intelligently do that. But that's an extremely complex thing.
My point to my original post is really that if anyone hears a "longer life" breakthru that doesn't even mention telomeres, I immediately move on. If they moved the needle on well-being of the elderly a bit, that's great. But nobody's "solving aging" without telomeres.
- BizarroLand 5y agoTelomeres are just the cell's odometer. Sure, rolling it back is good assuming that it extends the lifespan of the cell, but it still has the dents and dings it's picked up along the way from radiation & pollution, free radicals and oxidation. This seems like part of the puzzle. First repair the damage, then extend the time span, and the more you do this the more opportunities you have to find an optimal solution. I think the only thing that will actually work is for entirely new bodies to be built and for our minds to be copied over. It's not immortality but that is probably as close as we will get, and once we can do that then extending our current body's lifespan will be exponentially easier.