Question: Why do we grow older? :)

Thomas Barrett answered on 17 Mar 2015:

So from what I can see each of your cells DNA has something called telomeres. These are kind of like recording tape and during the replication process the spiral DNA molecule must split in half and reassemble a copy of itself. Protecting the vital DNA molecule from being copied out of synch, telomeres provide a kind of buffer zone where mis-alignments (which are inevitable) will not result in any of the important DNA code being lost.

As any cell gets older, it is under attack by oxides and free-radicals in the body and environment. We survive as living beings because our cells have the ability to duplicate and replace themselves before being killed by these natural causes. Each time our cells divide, the DNA molecule makes a new copy of itself. Scientists have seen that the length of telomere chains becomes shorter as we grow older. Eventually the telomeres become so short that cell replication produces lethal errors or missing pieces in the DNA sequence, ending the cell’s ability to replace itself.

This means that eventually our bodys can’t replace the dead or damaged cells and we would die of old age.

But we are looking into how we can extend our lives. Stem cells have been offered as a way to get new healthy cells for many parts of the body.