Unknown

Dataset Information

0

Ageing as a software design flaw.


ABSTRACT: Ageing is inherent to all human beings, yet why we age remains a hotly contested topic. Most mechanistic explanations of ageing posit that ageing is caused by the accumulation of one or more forms of molecular damage. Here, I propose that we age not because of inevitable damage to the hardware but rather because of intrinsic design flaws in the software, defined as the DNA code that orchestrates how a single cell develops into an adult organism. As the developmental software runs, its sequence of events is reflected in shifting cellular epigenetic states. Overall, I suggest that to understand ageing we need to decode our software and the flow of epigenetic information throughout the life course.

SUBMITTER: de Magalhaes JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10042583 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

altmetric image

Publications

Ageing as a software design flaw.

de Magalhães João Pedro JP  

Genome biology 20230328 1


Ageing is inherent to all human beings, yet why we age remains a hotly contested topic. Most mechanistic explanations of ageing posit that ageing is caused by the accumulation of one or more forms of molecular damage. Here, I propose that we age not because of inevitable damage to the hardware but rather because of intrinsic design flaws in the software, defined as the DNA code that orchestrates how a single cell develops into an adult organism. As the developmental software runs, its sequence o  ...[more]

Similar Datasets

| S-EPMC3631768 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC8156997 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC6452738 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC11419627 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC11005826 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC524372 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC8499503 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC3836914 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC2703938 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC9465677 | biostudies-literature