The biology of death - Origins of mortality

Why do we die? Do all living creatures share this fate? Is the body's slow degradation with the passage of time unavoidable, or can the secrets of longevity be unlocked? Over the part two decades, scientists studying the workings of genes and cells have uncovered some of the clues necessary to solve these mysteries. In this fascinating and accessible book, two neurobiologists share the often-surpnsing findings from that research, including the possibility that aging and natural death may not be forever a certainty for most living beings. André Klarsfeld and Frédéric Revah discuss in detail the latest scientific findings and views on death and longevity. They challenge many popular assumptions, such as the idea that the death of individual organisms serves to rejuvenate species or that death and sexual reproduction are necessarily linked. Finally, they describe current expérimental approaches to postponing natural death in lower organisms as well as in, mammals. The variability of the adult life span - from a few hours for some insects to more than a millennium for thé séquoia and thirteen times that for certain wild berry bushes - challenges the notion that death is unavoidable. Evolutionary theory helps explain why abd how some species have developed biological mechanims that seemingly allow them ti resist time. Death cannot be understood without looking into cells - the essential building blocks of life. Intriguingly, at the level of cells, death is not always an accident; it is often programmed as an indispensable aspect of life, which benefits the organism as a whole.