The inevitability of aging has proven mathematically
Calculations of evolutionary biologists from the University of Arizona showed that aging of multicellular organisms is inevitable.
Calculations of evolutionary biologists from the University of Arizona showed that aging of multicellular organisms is inevitable. The mathematical model constructed by scientists have shown that in multicellular organism to reduce the viability of cells in the future, there is only one alternative — cancer. The article was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In their arguments, the scientists started from two popular genetic theories of aging: theories of accumulation of somatic mutations and the theory of antagonistic pleiotropy. The first, as the name implies, States that aging occurs as a result of the accumulation of DNA mutations in the process of life. The second theory implies that some genes have pleiotropic (ambiguous) effect on fitness of the organism: at a young age, these genes or their particular alleles, increase reproductive success and therefore are supported by the selection, but with age begin to negatively affect fitness.
Both these theories imply the existence of some genetic variants that are associated with aging. If you imagine the existence of a fairly strong selection against these variants, in the process of evolution is possible to a certain “immortal genotype”. Otherwise, the cell will inevitably degrade for various reasons — for example, the result of the gradual accumulation of incorrectly folded proteins and removal of epigenetic marks.