Re: reversing human aging

Anders Sandberg (nv91-asa@nada.kth.se)
Tue, 17 Sep 1996 12:41:20 +0200 (MET DST)


On Mon, 16 Sep 1996, Steve Pruitt wrote:

>Has anybody read "Reversing Human Aging" by Fossel? it purports that the
>underlying mechanism of aging is the telomere shortening which occurs when
>a cell divides. i am only about half way through, but so far it has been
>a nice write up on cellular aging.
>
>the author claims telomere shortening is the cause behind the hayflict
>limit.

This may be true, it is a popular theory and appears to fit known facts
well. But I'm not sure telomere shortening is the only cause of ageing,
there may be other cellular and systematic causes.

Perhaps we could prevent ageing by giving the cells telomerase, but we
have to be careful not to induce cancer.

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