The discovery of MORF4 is an outgrowth of previous work, in which the Baylor group and others showed that mutations in any one of four different sets of genes can cause cultured cells to become immortal. They did this by fusing various kinds of immortal cells with either normal senescent cells or with one another.
By preventing cells from reaching senescence one can achieve biological immortality; telomeres, a "cap" at the end of DNA, are thought to be the cause of cell aging. Every time a cell divides the telomere becomes a bit shorter; when it is finally worn down, the cell is unable to split and dies.
Studies of humans who live longer than 100 years have shown that many share an unusual version of a gene called Forkhead box protein O3 (FOXO3).
Biological immortality (sometimes referred to as bio-indefinite mortality) is a state in which the rate of mortality from senescence is stable or decreasing, thus decoupling it from chronological age.
The percentage of genetic similarities between humans and animals does vary: chimps, 97% similar; cats, 90%; cows, 80%; mice, 75%; fruit flies, 60%, and jellyfish, 60%. Before the Cnidaria DNA sequencing, scientists expressed incredulity that there was any comparison.
Common Ancestors:
From our knowledge of the theory of Evolution, we know that all life is related and that all animals came from a common ancestor. This also means that we share our DNA with other organisms including dinosaurs.
Ever since researchers sequenced the chimp genome in 2005, they have known that humans share about 99% of our DNA with chimpanzees, making them our closest living relatives.
Normally, as time passes, our cells undergo changes: Our DNA mutates, cells stop dividing, and harmful junk—by-products of cellular activity—builds up. All these processes together cause us to age.
While the population can expect to live longer lives on average, the human lifespan might have a cap. Scientists believe that the human lifespan could be anywhere from 120-150 years long, but not longer than that, due to accumulating hallmarks of aging and chronic disease.
To date, there's only one species that has been called 'biologically immortal': the jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii. These small, transparent animals hang out in oceans around the world and can turn back time by reverting to an earlier stage of their life cycle.
As it turns out, it's a very long life. A healthy diet, regular physical activity, extended work years and aggressive government intervention have helped the Nagano region produce the longest life expectancy in Japan, which in turn is the longest in the world.
The role of p53, sometimes referred to as the “guardian angel gene,” is to help preserve genetic stability and prevent mutation. The researchers targeted certain signaling pathways that function both in pregnancy and during the formation of cancerous tumors. During pregnancy, the pathways are usually tightly regulated.
In the third chapter of the novel The Making of the Fittest by Sean Carroll we are introduced to immortal genes, which are powerful genealogical records that reflect the degree of relatedness among kingdoms and help us retrieve and reconstruct events in the history of life that are not visible in the fossil record.
4: Immortality via Resurrection.
Characters who are capable of coming back from death by simply being reincarnated or auto-reviving in some shape or form. Technically speaking, the character in question CAN be successfully murdered — they'll just come back after you've done so.
Curse of Immortality[edit] Some forms of immortality are a blessing, granting a long and fulfilling life to those who truly deserve it. The other form is a curse. A creature cursed with immortality will never find peace, forced to live a life full of misery and suffering as a near-dead husk.
Humans' life expectancy (average) is 70-85 years. However, the oldest verified person (Jeanne Clement, 1875-1997) lived up to 122 years. As a person ages, the telomeres (chromosome ends) tend to become shorter in every consecutive cycle of replication. Also, bones start getting weaker by reducing in size and density.
Humanity has a 95% probability of being extinct in 7,800,000 years, according to J. Richard Gott's formulation of the controversial Doomsday argument, which argues that we have probably already lived through half the duration of human history.
The current longevity record is held by Jeanne Calment, a French woman who passed away in 1997 at the age of 122 years and five months (see 'The rising age of the longest-living human').
A new study suggests that stopping or even reversing the aging process is impossible. In a collaborative effort from scientists worldwide, including experts from the University of Oxford, it was concluded that aging is inevitable due to biological constraints, The Guardian reported.
Your cells are programmed to divide, multiply, and perform basic biological functions. But the more cells divide, the older they get. In turn, cells eventually lose their ability to function properly. Cellular damage also increases as cells get older.
The increased longevity of humans is, in part, attributable to environmental changes; improved food, water, and hygiene; reduced impact of infectious disease; and improved medical care at all ages.
Human and chimp DNA is so similar because the two species are so closely related. Humans, chimps and bonobos descended from a single ancestor species that lived six or seven million years ago.
Could we mate with other animals today? Probably not. Ethical considerations preclude definitive research on the subject, but it's safe to say that human DNA has become so different from that of other animals that interbreeding would likely be impossible.
Chimpanzees
We share 99 percent of our DNA with chimpanzees, so it comes as no surprise that countless hours of research have been dedicated to understanding the intelligence and behavior of our sister species. This research has firmly established that chimps are one of the most intelligent species on earth.
Would you be surprised to learn that rattlesnakes and humans share many of the same genes? At the molecular level, both humans and snakes rely on DNA to build life. From our DNA, we gain tools to help us interact with our surrounding environment and, hopefully, to survive it.