The Role of Senescent Cells in Aging

We have a pathway that basically protects us against cancer. It is called senescence. Cells reproduce, reproduce, reproduce. As these cells are turning over and over and over again, eventually some copy errors can occur. When that happens, the cells program stop growing, stop reproducing. Just lay there and wait. Get killed off by your body's system called autophagy. Auto eating. When you're 18 years old and you go to sleep at night, you stop eating between, say, 10pm and 6am and your body is triggered to go through autophagyne. It goes up and cleans up those cells. When you're 50. Doesn't happen at night. Might take two or three days. These cells that are senescent start building up in our body, and that's what leads to arthritis, heart failure, degeneration of kidneys, older skill.