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Blood of World's Oldest Woman Hints At Limits of Life

Posted by timothy on from the telomere-more-about-this dept.

porkchop_d_clown (39923) writes "When Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper died in 2005, she was the oldest woman in the world. [New Scientist reported Wednesday] that, at the end of her life, most of her white blood cells had been produced by just two stem cells — implying the rest of her blood stem cells had already died, and hinting at a possible limit to the human life span."

11 of 333 comments (clear)

  1. Old News by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Isn't this old news?

    1. Re:Old News by Rob+the+Bold · · Score: 2, Funny

      Isn't this old news?

      I see what you did there.

      --
      I am not a crackpot.
  2. Oh, so somebody's an expert? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Look, if you know what you're talking about, I'm not sure you fit in here....

  3. Re:Strange conclusion by operagost · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm going to get ahead of the game and work on that "heat death of the universe" limit.

    --

    Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
  4. Who Wants To Live Forever by IgnitusBoyone · · Score: 3, Funny

    Who dares to love forever,
    When love must die.

    ---Queen

    --
    Momento Mori
  5. Re:Not an upper limit by SuperKendall · · Score: 4, Funny

    One solution would also be to stop people reproducing until after a certain age.

    I look forward to the movie based on this premise, Logan's Booty Run.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  6. Re:Bank them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    But they smell funny..

  7. Re:Bank them by Chelloveck · · Score: 4, Funny

    I had been hoping there was a definite end that science could not trick.

    Nah, science has just identified the thing that needs to be tricked. We just need fresh stem cells. I, for one, am going to assure that I get a steady supply of stem cells by eating a baby for breakfast each morning.

    --
    Chelloveck
    I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
  8. Re:Strange conclusion by DVega · · Score: 4, Funny

    A few centuries ago, we could have concluded that there is an absolute limit to human life span because at some point someone can't eat anymore while he lost all his teeth.

    Do you know about soup?

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    MOD THE CHILD UP!
  9. So, bathing in virgin's blood... by FishOuttaWater · · Score: 1, Funny

    not such a bad idea after all?

  10. Re:Bank them by Gr8Apes · · Score: 5, Funny

    There's a cremation service in the US that you can sign up for that will be ... aggressive ... in seeing your body cremated according to your wishes, (relatively) cheaply and quickly. Their market is precisely people who want to trump their family on this issue. But I'm blocking on the company name - anyone?

    Soylent.

    --
    The cesspool just got a check and balance.