The Evolution of Death: Why We Are Living Longer - Couverture rigide

Shostak, Stanley

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 079146945X ISBN 13 : 9780791469453

Editeur : State University of New York Press, 2006

Synopsis

In The Evolution of Death, the follow-up to Becoming Immortal: Combining Cloning and Stem-Cell Therapy, also published by SUNY Press, Stanley Shostak argues that death, like life, can evolve. Observing that literature, philosophy, religion, genetics, physics, and gerontology still struggle to explain why we die, Shostak explores the mystery of death from a biological perspective.

Death, Shostak claims, is not the end of a linear journey, static and indifferent to change. Instead, he suggests, the current efforts to live longer have profoundly affected our ecological niche, and we are evolving into a long-lived species. Pointing to the artificial means currently used to prolong life, he argues that as we become increasingly juvenilized in our adult life, death will become significantly and evolutionarily delayed. As bodies evolve, the embryos of succeeding generations may be accumulating the stem cells that preserve and restore, providing the resources necessary to live longer and longer. If trends like this continue, Shostak contends, future human beings may join the ranks of other animals with indefinite life spans.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Stanley Shostak is Associate Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh and is the author of several books, including Evolution of Sameness and Difference: Perspectives on the Human Genome Project.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: State University of New York Press
• Date d'édition: 2006
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 079146945X
• ISBN 13: 9780791469453
• Reliure: Relié
• Numéro d'édition: 1
• Nombre de pages: 246
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible