Question

What would happen if new cells stopped forming when we reached maturity while old cells never died off?

Answer 1

wat lesson?

Answer 2

@FlaCaLOL biology- cell cycle..:( she said think about the renewing of cells in a human body..

Answer 3

cells are prorgammed to die, for a wide variety of reasons. if cells never died off, and new cells continued to form... well that's what cancer is - cells that display uncontrolled growth. this idea of programmed cell death plays a big factor in preventing cancer.

programmed cell death also occurs when a cell is damaged beyond repair or infected with a virus. this prevents the spread of viral infection.

thts wat i could find hope it helps

Answer 4

@FlaCaLOL thanks.. but I already read that and I still don't get it.:( like what exactly happens if new cells stopped forming when we reached maturity while old cells never died off?..?

Answer 5

I think the rate of cell division decreases as we grow older.

Answer 6

then it must be the cells from "Rip Van Winkle".
( in some life forms in extreme conditions it is happening actually)

Answer 7

this answer depends on the tissue. for example in the nervous system it happens exactly as you described: "new cells stop forming when we reach maturity, while old cells never died off" however we can not say "never" for the old cells but in any case "neuronal loss" refers to pathology (neurodegeneration). and normal "aging" usually refers to "loss of neuronal connections" rather than "death". Neuronal loss may occur in particular centers associated with "memory" which is logical.

I hope my answer helps your imagination about the answer. In biology there is no certainty. Everything changes from one structure to other.. even in the organisms...

Answer 8

in the nervous system cells die regularly, and some appear (not a lot but stem cells in the nervous system are now established).
The real problem, to me, is do you consider that the cells get old or not? If yes they should be renewed otherwise they will not function properly. In cancer cells, apart from the number problem, their function is also altered.

Answer 9

Everybody, thanks for the help
but.. I still can't come up with an exact answer.. The question is asking What would happen "IF" new cells stopped forming when we reached maturity while old cells never died off?
So I have to tell her what would happen..

Answer 10

Short answer: Assuming cells never degrade, nothing special would happen. Cells would continue to work. However, if cells do degrade then after a certain amount of time all cells would become nonfunctional (but still alive).

Long answer: see above answers.