X-Message-Number: 26280 Date: Sat, 4 Jun 2005 09:07:07 -0400 From: Thomas Donaldson <> Subject: about immortal fungi For Doug Skrecky and his readers: The important issue in immortality for a variety of fungus isn't really the metabolic path they follow or fail to follow that removes their aging, but just how close does this metabolic path resemble one which we or mammals in general follow. Despite the recent discovery that even some kinds of bacteria show aging, I wouldn't be very surprised at all if some life forms show no aging at all in the wild, and in their normal state. The real problem in achieving agelessness for us humans consists of working out a metabolic path that lets us do this while at the same time not injuring us in other ways (sure, the problem is easy! We just turn ourselves into suitably ageless bacteria!). Despite making this comment, I WILL say that Doug Skrecky has become far more sophisticated now than several years ago about aging and what might be needed to stop and reverse it. He may even come back after this message with a statement of just how the metabolic path followed by these fungi applies to us humans, too. That would be very good. Best wishes and long long life for all, Thomas Donaldson Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=26280