Today in my eco-devo class we asked the question, "Why do we get old?". Student answers, a list:
⢠Time
⢠Methylation/acetylation
⢠Accumulation of damage
⢠Environmental damage
⢠IGF pathway
⢠Down regulation
⢠Mutations
⢠Stem cell depletion
⢠Competition
⢠Chance imperfections
⢠Invisible to selection
Always good to remind the young'uns of their inevitable fate.
@Areya Undergrads, yes. They'd read the chapter in Gilberts' *Ecological Development* text ahead of time, so they were prepared. Good to see they'd actually absorbed some of their reading.
@pzmyers that's great to hear!