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Astrology
Astrology What kind of foolishness is astrology? You read about Sun Signs in the paper and you can see almost every sign says something ambiguous or relevant in some general way. Surely no real science or serious people ever believed such...
Ben Franklin and Rosicrucian Dragons - Trepanning
Ben Franklin will always appear to be a great man and he was that indeed. But he was not just the founder of America or The Enlightenment Experiment. He was one of the founders of the New World Order along with Pierre Dupont de Nemours who he...
Divination
DIVINATION: "A LOST WORLD OF SOUL When you hear the word 'divination', chances are that certain images-- will spring to mind: dark gypsy fortune-tellers, tea-leaves, and crystal balls; a scene in a movie when the Ace of Spades falls in a card...
The NSTP (Non - Spatial Thinking Process) Theory as a Masterkey : Non - Spatial Universal Mechanics
The NSTP ( Non - Spatial Thinking Process ) theory, a published invention (2002) of Kedar Joshi ( b. 1979 ) (i.e.Myself), a Cambridge ( England ) based philosopher, is a position that, in computer terminology, regards Universe as a Non - Spatial...
Zimbabwe and Biotechnology
Two years ago, drought and famine ravaged Zimbabwe. Many
Zimbabweans cheated death by a whisker as their leaders haggled
over whether to accept food aid, especially maize (corn) from
the World Food Programme (WFP).
The borne of contention...
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Programmed life
Does aging happen by chance? Is aging the breaking down of an organism till the latter eventually stops working?
According to Valter Longo’s latest research, which was published in the September 27 edition of the Journal of Cell Biology, aging is a programmed process. For Longo’s part, aging is supposed to ensure the premature death of the majority of a population.
The dead will then consequently provide nutrients for the sake of a few individuals who have acquired genetic mutations. (Think of yeast rather than big complex mammals.) These mutants are more adapted to their environment than the other ‘normal’ organisms. Therefore these ‘sacrificial’ deaths increase the chances of reproduction of the mutants as the latter will have more nutrients to feed on.
Now Charles Darwin may not be very happy with Longo’s theory. Darwin’s natural selection happens at individual level. The better suited to its environment an organism is, the more probable that it will reproduce. This ensures that the species changes or evolves over time as such type of reproduction brings genetic changes to the offsprings. This makes the offsprings more adapted to their ever-changing environment.
Longo’s theory however rests on the group selection theory. Many scientists think that this theory is incorrect. The latter proposes that selection happens not at individual level but at group level instead.
Longo’s research is mainly based on the observation of programmed aging in yeast. Scientists have used yeasts because
the molecular pathway that regulates its longevity is similar to other more complex organisms like mice and possibly humans.
The results of this research are surprising. Yeasts, which were studied died well before they were supposed to in order to provide nutrients for those yeasts within that same population which have acquired genetic mutations. In short, many millions of yeasts died early to suit the few better-adapted mutant yeasts. Can this process happen in humans as well?
“If aging is programmed in yeast and the latter’s molecular pathway is very similar to human’s, then isn’t it possible that humans also die earlier than they have to?” said Valter Longo.
Apart from the possibility that we might have been wrong in sticking with Darwin’s all-too-known theory for so long-provided Longo’s theory is proven to be correct- gerontologists (scientists studying the aging process) are now conjecturing that aging may actually be healed.
It seems easier to tweak the programming in a computer than to try to replace part after part in an old car that is steadily collapsing.
For Valter Longo, most organisms undergo programmed longevity. Is life therefore supposed to be programmed?
About the Author
Khalil A.Cassimally is the editor in chief of Astronomy Journal and Astronomy Journal Ezine. He is also the co-founder of the RCPL Astronomy Club.
He is currently Senior Columnist at BackWash.com and Columnist for bbc.co.uk h2g2 The Post where he writes 'Not Scientific Science' column.
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