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Evolution of ageing

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Abstract

An evolutionary view of ageing suggests that mortality may be due to an energy-saving strategy of reduced error regulation in somatic cells. This supports Orgel's ‘error catastrophe’ hypothesis and offers a new basis for the study of normal and abnormal ageing syndromes and of apparently immortal transformed cell lines.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, Holly Hill, London, NW3 6RB

    T. B. L. Kirkwood

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  1. T. B. L. Kirkwood
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Kirkwood, T. Evolution of ageing. Nature 270, 301–304 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/270301a0

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