Is there a reason why we die of "old age"? Genetics?

Question

How exactly does the body go on the decline?
How does genetics play a role in it?
What exactly happens in our genes that leads us to become older?

Answer 1

As you now we are constantly changing our body cells. Every time a cell dies, a new cell has to replace it. In order to replace dead cells, other cells have to go through mitosis which is basically cell reproduction. During mitosis, 2 copies of chromosomes are made and then 1 cell divides to 2 identical cells. The problem is that the ends of each chromosome is covered by a cap-like protein called telomeres (think of the as little socks and gloves of each chromosome). During each mitosis, these little socks and gloves get smaller and smaller until they almost totally disappear. Scientist believe that loss of telomeres is the cause of aging. The smaller the telomeres are to begin with, the faster we age.

"A telomere is a region of highly repetitive DNA at the end of a linear chromosome that functions as a disposable buffer. Every time linear eukaryotic chromosomes are replicated during late S-phase the DNA polymerase complex is incapable of replicating all the way to the end of the chromosome; if it were not for telomeres, this would quickly result in the loss of useful genetic information, which is needed to sustain a cell's activities. Every time a cell with linear genes divides, it will lose a small piece of one of its strands of DNA. This process has been referred to by James Watson and Alexei Olovnikov as the "end replication problem""

Answer 2

Technically, people don't die from "old age". If "old age" were a cause of death, then we cannot explain why there are people who lived to a ripe old age and are still healthy while others die much younger. The "old age" range can be quite wide say from 60 to 100 years.

People die because of certain causes of failure in their body functions, e.g. heart, kidney, liver, etc. Your parents' age is a good predictor of your own life span. There are of course other factors - diet, lifestyle, the genes you inherited, etc.

When we grow older, the speed of repair becomes slower than the cumulative damage inflicted and this eventually lead to deterioration until some aspects of the body functions become adversely affected, leading to further complications and a run-away deterioration. Upon death, the doctor will always specify a cause of death.

Answer 3

Also there's a molecule called cytochrome P450 that usually tells our body to quietly and nicely get rid of cells that no longer work. For other reasons there's a bunch of P450 in our mitochondria. When we get older the mitochondria starts falling apart and getting leakier, releasing the molecule which makes our cell kill cells that don't necessairly need to be killed.

Answer 4

Our cells quit dividing after 52 cycles. As the last generation of cells die off, organs begin to fail. Along the way cells can become mutated and develope into cancer cells, which are body cells that lose their ability to die off and follow normal growth pattern codes. It is true irony that cancer cells are immortal. They would contine to grow forever if they were supplied with nutrients.

We were designed to live forever. After the Fall, and especially after the Flood, atmospheric conditions that protected us from cosmic radiaton were no longer in place and genetic mutations in everything from our own bodies to the food we eat began to accumulate and deteriorate our DNA code. So it is appointed to all men to die. But the good news is that our souls will live forever, and our Creator has made it possible for us to live that forever with HIM! Our single common earthly progenetor - Adam, willingly fell into sin and through that action gave this whole world and all of us into the enemy's hand. In order to restore us our single common Heavenly progenetor - God - willingly came to Earth in the form of Jesus the Christ, and through an unjust death after a sinless life, balanced the scales of justice and established His right to rescue us from the power of that enemy. Study hard, but remember to trust the One Who got you here to carry you on from here when it's time to go.

Answer 5

At the end of each chromosome is a Telomere. The longer it is the "younger" you are. Every time our cells divide we lose some of the telomere. Theres even diseases where 10-yearolds look like 90-yearolds because of their extremely short telomeres.

Answer 6

thats a process of living....