Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Dr David Neill
Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.
© 2016 Bentham Science Publishers. It is proposed that a primary and fundamental aspect of metazoan evolution is an ability to control and extend the longevity of individual cells. This was achieved through an intracellular oscillator, dubbed ‘Life’s Timekeeper’, which evolved in the hypothetical ancestor of all metazoans. Slower oscillatory frequencies directed metazoan evolution towards extended longevity of individual cells, enabling generation of many specialised types of terminally differentiated cells. As the longevity of these cells was still relatively short in more primitive metazoans, stem cells, capable of differentiating into all specialised cell types, were retained in order to replace senescent cells. With increasing cell longevity, continual replacement of all senescent cells was no longer necessary. Cells such as neurons could be sustained throughout life, enabling the evolution of brains, hence, complex behaviour and intelligence. In multicellular metazoans the oscillator remains synchronised across all cells. It coordinates the timing of all cell-cell signalling systems, hence controls the timing of development and aging/senescence. In advanced metazoans, where senescent cells are not continually replaced, it controls lifespan. With regards to morphological evolution the oscillator, through alterations to developmental timing, controls change in size and shape. With regards to life history theory it functions as the key variable mediating the correlation between life history traits. This theory is compatible with a prominent role for environmental selection but, as it implicates some degree of internal mediation and direction, it is not entirely compatible with the ‘modern synthesis’ view of natural selection.
Author(s): Neill D
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Current Aging Science
Year: 2016
Volume: 9
Issue: 2
Pages: 87-98
Online publication date: 01/05/2016
Acceptance date: 02/04/2016
ISSN (print): 1874-6098
ISSN (electronic): 1874-6128
Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers B.V.
URL: http://doi.org/10.2174/1874609809666160114092340
DOI: 10.2174/1874609809666160114092340
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric