How many times can the human cell divide?
Leonard Hayflick, a prominent scientist in the field of anti-aging studied cell division and proved that human fibroblast cells can only divide 50 times in cell culture before their demise. Even when he froze these cells and then reconstituted them in culture, they took off at the same place they had left off—up to 50 times only. This implies that human cells have an intrinsic limit. Further research showed that stem cells from various sources can accomplish different things. Embryonic cells from five to seven day old embryos have the ability to turn into just about anything, while adult stem cells are much more limited in their usage. Stem Cells and Anti-Aging There seems to be an intricate connection between premature aging and stem cell regenerative capacity. Some famous scientists believe that preprogrammed cell death begins at birth following a present path that can not be altered. The number and quality of stem cells a person has affects their ability to withstand the “insults of
