5 ms·
> Are there any genes that explicitly produce a timing mechanism, and thereby create a built-in notion of aging? Yes, telomeres. Telomeres set a count on how
by cantrevealname 5y ago
> Are there any genes that explicitly produce a timing mechanism, and thereby create a built-in notion of aging?
Yes, telomeres.
Telomeres set a count on how many times a cell can divide before it ceases to divide and becoming old and useless; in humans, the count is 40-60 divisions and then the cell essentially dies.
There may be other timing mechanisms that haven't been discovered as well.
- outworlder 5y agoIt's less of a timing and more like of a "TTL" of a network packet. If you don't divide you don't use them up, even if you could live a thousand years. If you keep dividing like crazy, it will eventually reach useful DNA and the cell will die. They seem to be quite specifically an anti-cancer measure.