Research results show that ``aging'' may have an important role in the evolution of life
Aging is associated with negative images such as suffering from disease and fear of death, but a computer simulation that reproduces the evolutionary path of millions of years shows that aging is important for animals to advance in the struggle for survival. It has been shown that this may be a characteristic property.
Directional selection coupled with kin selection favors the establishment of senescence | BMC Biology | Full Text
Hungarian scientists prove that senescence ca | EurekAlert!
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1010818
Growing Old Could Have Played a Critical Role in Our Evolution : ScienceAlert
https://www.sciencealert.com/growing-old-could-have-played-a-critical-role-in-our-evolution
Conventional evolutionary theory believed that aging is inevitable and cannot be avoided by any living thing, but some living things can rejuvenate and are even theoretically immortal. .
Top 10 ``long-lived animals'' that are over 10,000 years old or have amazing immortality - GIGAZINE
Also, it was once said that, ``In the natural world, it is normal for animals to be preyed upon or die from disease, and they almost never live out their natural lifespan, so whether they age or not does not affect evolution.'' Nowadays, it is becoming clear that it is not uncommon for wild animals to grow old and die.
A question that has emerged from these discussions is, ``Does aging have some positive meaning?'' In order to test this hypothesis that aging may have been an evolutionary advantage, a research team from the HUN-REN Ecological Research Center Institute of Evolution in Hungary conducted a simulation using a computer model.
The model used in the research is an algorithm that simulates the long-term behavior of living organisms and genes in a controlled environment, reducing the evolutionary process that takes millions of years in the natural world into a matter of hours. Can be compressed. Modern evolutionary research cannot be done without these computer models.
The results of this simulation study showed that aging can indeed accelerate evolution under conditions of sufficient directional selection and kin selection. Directional selection means that the presence of external enemies or changes in the environment guide traits in a certain direction, and the evolution of the giraffe's longer neck is an example of this. In addition, kin selection means that genes are inherited with the help of related individuals, and there is an example of a worker bee helping the queen bee, who is its own mother, reproduce without breeding itself.
Regarding the implications of this result, Eörs Szathmáry, one of the study's authors, said: ``For example, aging and death may be advantageous for an individual in a changing environment, because by doing so, This reduces the risk of competing with more fit offspring with better genetic makeup, which will hinder their survival and reproduction.In other words, natural aging and death will reduce the risk of competition from more fit offspring with better genetics. It's about giving up space for a new generation.'
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