Stem cells and the rate of living.

Krishnamurthy, Janakiraman; Sharpless, Norman E · Cell Stem Cell · 2007

editorial · Level V

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Abstract

The "rate-of-living theory" is an ancient explanation of longevity which holds that aging occurs due to the exhaustion of some finite substance-breaths, heartbeats, etc. While this theory as originally conceived has been debunked, new work (Ruzankina et al. [2007], in this issue of Cell Stem Cell) suggests that mammals in fact do have a finite number of stem cell replications per life.

Medical subject headings