Aging is a natural part of the life of any living organism, including humans. But this does not stop many enthusiasts from the world of science, because the temptation to defeat nature is so great, delaying the moment of biological death as much as possible, thereby prolonging life expectancy. However, some scientists agree that it is simply impossible to completely stop this process. Among them are researchers from the University of Arizona, who believe that this is not feasible even from a purely mathematical point of view.
“Aging is a mathematically inevitable process. Inevitable anyway. There is no logical, theoretical or mathematical solution to trying to stop this process,”says Joanna Massel, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona.
Massel, along with colleague Paul Nelson, outlined their findings on the relationship between mathematics and aging in a study titled “Intercellular Competition and the Inevitability of Multicellular Aging,” published in Scientific Papers of the National Academy of Sciences. The modern understanding of evolution leaves open the question of the possibility of interrupting the aging process. But only if science finds a way of ideal natural selection among organisms. And one solution to the problem is to use competition between cells to eliminate poorly functioning “flaccid cells” associated with aging, while preserving the rest of the healthy cells.
Getting there, however, is not easy, Massel and Nelson say. Scientists claim that two things happen to the body at the cellular level. First, cells gradually slow down internal processes and begin to lose their basic functions. Secondly, some cells increase their growth rate, which leads to the formation of cancer cells in the body. As the body ages, people inevitably acquire a tendency to develop cancer cells, even if their presence does not manifest itself in the form of any symptoms.
“As you age, most of the cells in your body gradually lose their function and stop growing. Nevertheless, some cells start to grow at an insane rate. If we could get rid of the "flaccid cells", it would allow cancer to proliferate inside the body without hindrance. And getting rid of cancer cells promotes the accumulation of "flaccid cells". It turns out that we are stuck between two options: either let the cancer take over the body, or accumulate cells that are losing their functions. And this is a mutually exclusive choice. Of course, you simply cannot get rid of all the cells."
Thus, scientists are trying to convey to us a very simple idea in the form of a mathematical equation, according to which aging is an inevitable component of life and an integral property of multicellular organisms. Yes, science can still try to slow down the aging process, but according to the work of Massel and Nelson, it is simply impossible to stop it completely. And the mathematical approach to the problem demonstrates that this is indeed the case. And with mathematics, as you know, it is quite difficult to argue.
Sergey Gray