Does a centralized clock for ageing exist?
It is proposed that a centralized clock controlling ageing is located in the pineal gland with the calcification process occurring there providing a highly accurate bio-inorganic timing mechanism and the secreted melatonin carrying a signal to all cells in the organism. An explicit programme of data gathering and experiments suitable for the falsification of the proposal, which is consistent with presently known anatomical and physiological facts, is presented. The underlying motivation comes from evolutionary biology and the invariance, that is the allometry, of life expectancy curves.
Kloeden
P E
PE
Medical Policlinic, University of Tübingen, FRG.
Rössler
R
R
Rössler
O E
OE
D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002113:Calcification, Physiologic / Q000502:physiology; D005812:Genes, Switch / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008136:Longevity / Q000235:genetics*; D008550:Melatonin / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D010870:Pineal Gland / Q000502:physiology*
D008550:Melatonin