X-Message-Number: 26245 From: "mike99" <> Subject: RE: #26239 To Mike99 re. evolution of aging [Thomas Donaldson] Date: Wed, 25 May 2005 14:22:38 -0600 Thomas Donaldson wrote: > > The problem with the notion that deterioration of our genes explains our > aging is very simple. There is no special reason why our gene repair > systems, or genes themselves, might not become more resistant to > damage. In animals (bacteria, actually) living in nuclear reactors > we see exactly that: they have duplicates of their genes, so that > repair uses a majority vote to repair all of the genes. (No, that's > not perfect, but it makes them much more resistant to radiation than > we are or even normal bacteria are). > > I'm not at all the originator of a standard biological theory of how > aging evolves, but you can look at the very first paper on that > subject by GC Williams, "Pleiotropy, natural selection, and the > evolution of senescence", EVOLUTION 11(1957) 398-411. I hope that > it's now on the net but haven't checked that myself. I would add > that others have produced math based on Williams' original idea, > and it now looks pretty firm. Thanks for the reference, Thomas. I will attempt to find that paper. But I also want to say, just for clarification, that I forwarded the link to "Mice offspring of older moms die younger" [ http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/node/7954 ] and Robert Bradbury's commentary on it (it was his "Grand Unified Theory of Aging" not mine) solely for the purpose of stimulating discussion, not because I hold any personal brief for or against Bradbury's theory. Regards, Michael LaTorra "For any man to abdicate an interest in science is to walk with open eyes towards slavery." -- Jacob Bronowski "Experiences only look special from the inside of the system." -- Eugen Leitl Member: Board of Directors, World Transhumanist Association: www.transhumanism.org Board of Directors, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies: http://ieet.org/ Extropy Institute: www.extropy.org Alcor Life Extension Foundation: www.alcor.org Society for Universal Immortalism: www.universalimmortalism.org President, Zen Center of Las Cruces: www.zencenteroflascruces.org Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=26245