The evolution of death : why we are living longer / Stanley Shostak.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Shostak, Stanley.

Series:

SUNY series in philosophy and biology.

SUNY series in philosophy and biology

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Aging.

Death.

Life expectancy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (262 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, c2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Evolution : death's unifying principle

Charting death's evolution and life's extension

Rethinking lifecycles and arrows

Keeping life afloat

Putting cells in the picture

Neoteny and longevity.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 205-233) and index.

ISBN:

9780791480816

079148081X

9781429413572

1429413573

OCLC:

76821622