HLTC22H3 Chapter 3: chapter 3
Document Summary
Biological theories of aging: there are more than a dozen different biological theories of aging, grouped into genetic, molecular/cellular, and system-level theories. Genetic theories: best evidence for genetic theories of aging is the differences btwn species in length of life span. Life spans appear to be inversely related to various factors such as metabolic rate, length of time to maturation, and response to stress. Dna repair mechanisms: damaged dna can be repaired which can be considered a deviation- countering mechanism for aging. If an error is caught, replication is stopped so that repairs can be made: there are several mechanisms of dna repair. The primary ones include base excision repair, nucleotide excision repair, mismatch repair, and repair of strand breaks. Free radical theory = one of the most popular theories of aging. Lipofuscin: aging cells accumulate waste matter called lipofuscin, a dark mixture of lipoproteins and various waste products.