Influence of environment on the mortality pattern of potentially non-senescent organisms. General approach and comparison with real populations.
There are no fundamental biological reasons why a living organism has to age. Several examples of non-senescent organisms can be found among primitive animals. However these organisms age when they are not in optimal environmental conditions. It is reasonable to suppose that the same simple reason for this may also be the basic cause of senescence in human beings and some other complex organisms with a life history that incorporates repeated reproduction. Firstly, the somatic stem cells of mammals exhibit the properties of potentially non-senescent systems. Secondly, the Strehler-Mildvan correlation between the parameters of mortality statistics for people living in different countries/conditions is exactly the same as the mortality pattern for hypothetical populations of potentially non-senescent organisms, which do, however, experience senescence as a result of functioning in living conditions that to varying degrees prevent the total self-maintenance of the organisms.
Khaliavkin
A V
AV
Institute of Biochemical Physics of Russian Academy of Sciences, 4, Kosygin Str., GSP-1, 119991 Moscow, Russia. khalyavkin@technologist.com
D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D004777:Environment; D006801:Humans; D007908:Lens, Crystalline / Q000502:physiology; D009026:Mortality; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology; D013598:Systems Theory; D019098:Telomerase / Q000502:physiology
D019098:Telomerase