Title: The biology of death : origins of mortality /
Authors: Klarsfeld, André.; Revah, Frédéric.
Publisher: Cornell University Press,
Year: 2004
Subjects: Death (Biology); Aging; Cell death.
Abstract: "Andre Klarsfeld and Frederic 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 experimental 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 the sequoia and thirteen times that for certain wild berry bushes - challenges the notion that death is unavoidable. Evolutionary theory helps explain why and how some species have developed biological mechanisms that seemingly allow them to 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."--Jacket.
Contents: Prologue -- The biology of death: a brief history -- The difficult measure of biological time -- Aging and longevity across the species -- What's the point of dying? -- In search of the fundamental mechanisms -- Programmed death that benefits life -- The dangers of programmed cell death gone awry -- Delaying death -- Conclusion -- Glossary.