Expert: Paras Anand - 11/17/2008

Question
we know due to wear and tear our cell dies everyday and due to new cell division new cells are generated.If our body has capacity to generate cell division then why cell division does not takes place for an infinite time so that human beings are immortal ?

Answer
Of course, cells divide. However, the division process is not perfect. With each division, the ends of the chromosomes (genetic material) get smaller. Moreover, there are mutations that gets accumulated with each division. So, although many cells divide however, the number of divisions are always limited.

Follow up_____-------------------
Dear Abhay,
The shortening of the chromosomes ends (called telomeres) are normally responsible for infinite number of cell divisions in which case the enzymes are not able to copy the information properly to the next cell. Every cell has his own life span. If i still remember rightly, RBCs have around 100 cell divisions.
Thank you!