Key Step In Programmed Cell Death Discovered

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered a dance of proteins that protects certain cells from undergoing apoptosis, also known as programmed cell death. Understanding the fine points of apoptosis is important to researchers seeking ways to control this process. In a series of experiments, St. Jude researchers found that if any one of three molecules is missing, certain cells lose the ability to protect themselves from apoptosis. A report on this work appears in the advance online publication of Nature.

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Approaching Immortality and the end of disease

[FromTheAir]

I think we are getting closer. My Proof for Immortality. Although it may not be a mathematical proof it could be considered a conceptual proof that math could support.

The human body is a data set. This data set is transferred repeatedly throughout life and it is the data representing the body that is persistent. Data can last eternally if there is a continuity of available storage mechanisms during that duration. In a stateful universe there may not even need to be physical storage if the entire universe replicates from the previous state into a new state. Experience is the observation of a change in state. In theory any state of the universe (data set) could be observed with time being irrelevant because you are simply looking at a huge data set that exists outside of time. Data is beyond the effects of time. It is because we are simply experiencing a complete data representing the universe in consecutive states at a particular point in a cause and effect chain. But that is another topical area.

The physical material of the body is not persistent; the data is persistent. A life term is only limited by the ability to replicate the data provided the life force or animation principal persists. It is the destruction of data set that results in a terminal condition that or the inability to properly replicate the data set. After enough failures the logic needed by the system and it's integrated sub systems is degraded to such a degree that the sub-systems fail causing the entire system to fail. In other words the system develops bugs and the hardware starts to fail, we call these things disease conditions.

Each time the data is copied there can be corruption or failure of the data transfer mechanisms; this seems to most affect mitochondrial DNA. The biochemical machine will repair a bad data copy using a good copy when the genetic hash value is wrong. The number of times that the data can be replicated in technically in theory is to infinity.

However there is a design constraint on the human biochemical machine which is probably mathematical in nature and an inherent system limitation resulting from the engineering requirements needed for the system to work. The chromosomes have a limited number of telomeres available limiting the number of replications. Telomeres are like book ends which keep books together. The telomeres keep the chromosomes together. Every time it is replicated, child cell produced, a new data copy is made, and a new set of book ends is used the first cell starts with a limited number so the number of cell generations is limited. When the book ends runs out that cell line ceases to exist.

There are biochemical mechanisms to add on telomeres, however the genetic switch or functional capability to allow these mechanisms to be applied to all cell lines near the end of their duration, allowing them to continue for an infinite duration (Eternity), does not seem to be set to ON in the human species and may be related to the ability to produce vitamin C being turned off. In fact this one genetic switch that was turned off thousands of years ago could be part of the immortality factors. However what we find in the phenomena of cancer seems to be a failed immune or immortality response.

Also worth noting is that intelligent stem cells can assume data, properties and functions of other cells groups in effect allowing data persistence and renewal of cell lines.

If the gene to create the enzyme to manufacture vitamin C is turned off there is a way to emulate it being turned on by consuming the amounts of Vitamin C that would have been generated to support or enhance the biochemical systems.

If we could mange adding telomeres back in the right places, and or slow down replication cycles caused by the need for repairs, maintain neural integrity (improved cellular waste removal), prevent mitochondrial DNA damage, and or utilize the advanced intelligence of stem cells for replacement and persistence, we would have at least life spans approaching 1,000 year