Macieira-Coelho A
Inserm, 73 bis, rue Maréchal-Foch, 78000 Versailles, France.
Pathol Biol (Paris). 2003 Dec;51(10):550-62. doi: 10.1016/j.patbio.2003.09.005.
From Weismann's theory to present day gerontology--Weismann's theory was based on the concept that through natural selection the division potential of somatic cells become finite thus limiting the regeneration of the soma and the life span of the organism. Indeed, the somatic cells of some animals have a finite division potential but what became apparent is that the implications for aging are more complex. Experiments showed that at each cell division the genetic information received by each daughter cell differs; cells are this way progressively modified through division creating a functional drift that is responsible in part for the continuous modifications going on in the organism from its very beginning to its extinction. Comparative biology showed that the finite or the infinite division potential of somatic cells has a complex connotation with developmental characteristics of the respective organism with implications for longevity that are far from being understood.
从魏斯曼的理论到当代老年学——魏斯曼的理论基于这样一个概念，即通过自然选择，体细胞的分裂潜能变得有限，从而限制了体细胞的再生和生物体的寿命。的确，一些动物的体细胞具有有限的分裂潜能，但显而易见的是，衰老的影响更为复杂。实验表明，在每次细胞分裂时，每个子细胞所接收的遗传信息都不同；细胞通过分裂以这种方式逐渐发生改变，产生功能漂移，这在一定程度上导致了生物体从诞生到消亡过程中持续发生的变化。比较生物学表明，体细胞的有限或无限分裂潜能与相应生物体的发育特征有着复杂的内涵，其对寿命的影响远未被理解。
