Re: Study details genetic basis of aging

From: hal@finney.org
Date: Sat Aug 28 1999 - 10:49:05 MDT


The gene chip sounds cool, but I was concerned about the leap from the
data to the interpretation in this study. The fact that some genes
become less active with aging does not imply that the inactivity of
those genes is what causes aging. This inactivity might be an effect
of aging rather than a cause, like the lessened efficiency of many of
the cell's systems.

The mere fact that some part of the cellular machinery, even genetic
machinery, becomes less active in aged cells does not necessarily mean
that this is what is causing aging. It could be that damage accumulates
to many cellular systems which cause them not to work as well as they
did when the cell was young.

Hal



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