Can people keep their bodies from aging?

Aging is a stage that everyone will experience in their life, but is it possible for people to avoid aging? It seems that people have thought about and discussed this issue since a long time ago. Ancient people once explored the issue of immortality, searched for the secret of immortality, and developed elixirs of immortality, but they had never succeeded. Let’s explore the answer together today.

Reduced melanin production in cells

The activity of the enzyme (tyrosine oxidase) that catalyzes the production of melanin is reduced. There are two possible reasons for the reduction in enzyme activity. One is that the expressed enzyme is damaged and inactivated, and the other is that the expression level of the enzyme is reduced or the activity of the expressed enzyme is reduced. For the former, enzyme inactivation can be attributed to damage caused by random damaging factors (toxic byproducts of metabolism and exogenous toxic substances), and there is already sufficient experimental evidence in this regard.

The latter may be the root cause of many people's understanding that "aging is a programmed process caused by genes." On the surface this seems to make sense, as it is entirely possible that the amount and activity of a gene expressing a certain protein decreases as we age. If we only ask this question, the argument that "aging is a programmed process caused by genes" is completely acceptable. However, if we continue to ask, why does this change occur in gene expression? Is it programmed? Like a set alarm clock? Through statistical analysis of the lifespans of a large number of identical twins, it was found that there are great differences in the lifespans between twins.

Studies on nematodes have found that even when genotype and environmental conditions are strictly controlled, there is a lot of variation in lifespan. The above experimental results contradict the theory that aging is caused by genetic programming. So why do gene expression changes occur? Going back to Kirlwood's point above, "changes in gene expression are more like a secondary consequence of aging rather than the primary cause." In other words, changes in gene expression can also be attributed to damage from random damaging factors (toxic byproducts of metabolism, such as free radicals, and exogenous toxic substances). There is also a large amount of experimental evidence to support the impact of random damaging factors on genes.

The answer to the question of whether humans can avoid aging is obvious and clear. People will definitely age. It is inevitable. Immortality is impossible because aging is a process. However, we can delay aging through some scientific methods, postpone the time of aging, and achieve the goal of healthy longevity.