Dr. Tom Kirkwood, head of the Department of Gerontology at the University of Newcastle, is an expert on the ageing process. He says we are made of two types of cells, the "germ line" or DNA, which is "immortal"
and somatic cells, which are designed to
support reproduction*.
As
far as longevity goes, Kirkwood says 25% is DNA, 75% is taking care of
ourselves. Our somatic cells weren't designed to last forever and Nature doesn't waste a lot of energy on them. It's up to us to stay fit.
Funny
to think that much of modern culture revolves around appearance, which
is pretty ephemeral thanks to those somatic cells. We humans worship
those fleeting moments of somatic reproductive display. I suppose rarity is something we always value the most.
As far as I know this obsession with the somatic is a human thing. Cats are blessedly free from "selfies".
As far as I know this obsession with the somatic is a human thing. Cats are blessedly free from "selfies".
[Dr. Tom Kirkwood] on ageing
The one on sex and death is the most interesting, imo.
or for PDFs go here
"The catalytic insight came in 1881 from the distinguished German naturalist August Weismann.
What Weismann realised was that in a multicellular body like yours and mine, there is a profound division of labour between two principal kinds of cells. On the one hand, there is the germ line - the egg or sperm-forming cells of the ovary or testis. These are the cells that, if we have children, transmit our genes into the next generation. The rest of the cells - those that make up the other organs of the body - Weismann termed the soma."
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