Month: September 2022

MANY APPROACHES to slowing aging are being explored by researchers, ranging from telomere modulators, stem cells and modulators, caloric restriction, antioxidants, hormones, to oxidative metabolism strategies. This relatively new field is finding, not surprisingly, that the complex process of aging is multifactorial, but also that it appears malleable. The fact that some creatures show apparent immortality suggests that there are options. View in LinkedIn

ANTI-AGING RESEARCH is a relatively new scientific discipline that has been confounded by the snake-oil brews and claims of the cosmetics industry. Stepping back from this veritable noise, the fact remains that many cellular systems employ strategies that confer remarkable longevity. As these strategies are better understood, and the genes responsible cloned, the opportunities in the future for aging plasticity in man look promising. View in LinkedIn

DEATH from a biological perspective is intriguing. It is the flip side of immortality. Trees kill off their autumn leaves rather than repair them. Tissues constantly sculpt themselves in development by programmed cell suicide. Numerous body cells like blood and skin cells have a brief life and are quickly replaced. Some creatures live for very long periods, and others are born and die within days. For what purpose? View in LinkedIn

DEATHLY SILENCE. "Despite the fundamental nature and importance of both the process of dying and of death itself, the concepts have received almost no attention in the basic biological sciences—textbooks seldom contain any reference to death or dying." https://lnkd.in/dq_xyw3 View in LinkedIn

LITERATURE SEARCHES on the biological meaning of death turn up lean pickings. It is the third rail of biological research, too dangerous to venture into, too full of religious or speculative opinions, and too difficult, it seems, for serious research. A curious vacuum for such an important subject. View in LinkedIn

DEATH AND TAXES. "Although any living creature anytime can lose its life, no creature can lose its death. This is why death is safe and secure in all living things." https://evmedreview.com/biology-of-death-2/ View in LinkedIn

DEFYING ENTROPY? "Entropy (disorder) must increase inevitably within a closed system, but living beings are not closed systems. It is a defining feature of life that it takes in free energy from the environment and unloads its entropy as waste. Living systems can even build themselves up from seed, and routinely repair themselves. There is no thermodynamic necessity for senescence." https://lnkd.in/dUX_Fna View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE is a contemplation of the role of fusion of similar and different plant organs to create flower parts, during floral adaptation, in a particularly brilliant article by Chelsea D. Specht. This insightful analysis of floral fusions reveals the subtlety and originality of flower construction, and how dynamic the process is from an evolutionary and developmental perspective. View in LinkedIn

SIMPLE UNITS OF COMPLEX DIVERSITY. "Flowers are considered as an organ system because they are made up of two or more sets, or whorls, of leaflike structures. A typical flower is composed of four whorls, which are the sepals, petals, stamens, and a pistil with one or more carpels. Much of the variation among flowers is based on variation of these basic parts." https://lnkd.in/d2mGjwJ View in LinkedIn

CONNATION. "The parts of a flower may be free or united. Fusion of like parts (such as petals united to petals) is called connation. When like parts are not fused, they are said to be distinct (one petal is distinct from another petal). http://lifeofplant.blogspot.com.es/2011/04/flower-types.html View in LinkedIn