as you know the hayflick limit is a very alarming phenonmenon occuring in the cells, esp in vitro, 50-60 division cycles over a relatively short period of time, then cellular senescence. if telomere shortens to a critical length and genes get chewed up, not too much can be done
if humans are to live in pure flesh form for a very long time, ie only near biological immortality, as long as we're cell-based organisms , then cellular senescence will become a major issue. true immortality would require us going beyong human biology.
back to the ques, Does the h limit play any important role in human life span? it's almost a non issue or moot point with current life expectancies b/c so many ppl die "prematurely" due to other diseases. cells can't keep on dividing forever though.... when the cells die, then by extension, the org will be near the end of its life
Edited by HYP86, 05 May 2008 - 03:59 AM.