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Worms key to immortality (well flatworms really...)
Posted: 29 Feb 2012 09:47
by lotek
British scientists believe they may have identified how humans could potentially live forever - and it’s all about flatworms
[...]
The research team studied how the flatworms manage to replace aged or damaged tissues and cells in a bid to understand what drives their longevity.
[...]
Key to a flatworm’s immortality lays in its telomeres – tiny sections of DNA that cap the ends of chromosomes, protecting them from damage and the loss of cell functions linked to ageing.
[...]
“The next goals for us are to understand the mechanisms in more detail and to understand more about how you evolve an immortal animal.”
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/why-flatworms- ... ality.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Damn it's not their spicy poop that's gonna do it...*
Edit to add
(as long as it's not waterworms)
Re: Worms key to immortality (well flatworms really...)
Posted: 01 May 2012 12:01
by gurensan
“The next goals for us are to understand the mechanisms in more detail and to understand more about how you evolve an immortal animal.”
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lol. Key here is that once your animal is immortal, evolution is over.
Re: Worms key to immortality (well flatworms really...)
Posted: 01 May 2012 14:37
by Freakzilla
gurensan wrote:“The next goals for us are to understand the mechanisms in more detail and to understand more about how you evolve an immortal animal.”
\
lol. Key here is that once your animal is immortal, evolution is over.
Nope, then we merge with the machines.
Re: Worms key to immortality (well flatworms really...)
Posted: 02 May 2012 10:32
by gurensan
Crap. Then we're subject to periodic upgrades.
Re: Worms key to immortality (well flatworms really...)
Posted: 02 May 2012 13:38
by Freakzilla
gurensan wrote:Crap. Then we're subject to periodic upgrades.
After that we become beings of thought inside a giant computer.
Re: Worms key to immortality (well flatworms really...)
Posted: 02 May 2012 15:52
by DuneFishUK
Aren't we already be part of an ultra-detailed physics simulation being run by a research lab to test theories about how the universe formed?
Re: Worms key to immortality (well flatworms really...)
Posted: 02 May 2012 16:20
by ULFsurfer
Yep, you're all little particles inside my laptop.
Re: Worms key to immortality (well flatworms really...)
Posted: 02 May 2012 16:33
by gurensan
Freakzilla wrote:gurensan wrote:Crap. Then we're subject to periodic upgrades.
After that we become beings of thought inside a giant computer.
Crap again. Now we're all subject to SOFTWARE upgrades. The worst kind ever.
I'm gonna get replaced by a microsoft product. yeesh.
Edit:
No animals were harmed during the making of this post. However, trillions of electrons were horribly inconvenienced.
Re: Worms key to immortality (well flatworms really...)
Posted: 02 May 2012 16:41
by Freakzilla
DuneFishUK wrote:Aren't we already be part of an ultra-detailed physics simulation being run by a research lab to test theories about how the universe formed?
As long as the resolution is finer than we can detect, what's the difference?
Re: Worms key to immortality (well flatworms really...)
Posted: 03 May 2012 12:19
by SadisticCynic
Freakzilla wrote:DuneFishUK wrote:Aren't we already be part of an ultra-detailed physics simulation being run by a research lab to test theories about how the universe formed?
As long as the resolution is finer than we can detect, what's the difference?
Ockham's Razor?