Beloved Immortals: Science, Miracles and ‘Jellyfish Time’

Beloved Immortals: Science, Miracles and ‘Jellyfish Time’

What is biological immortality? To be fair, it’s not the promise of a paradisiacal garden. Neither is it the ultimate, or final, defeat of death. Instead, biological immortality has to do with aging. An organism that is biologically immortal does not age. We primarily age (the theory goes) because the cells that comprise us age. At some point, the telomeres that protect the genetic information in our chromosomes get shorter. When they get too short, the cells (which lack this protection) stop dividing. We no longer produce the cells that our skin, bones, or blood need to help us recover from the wear and tear of everyday life. As creatures comprised of mortal cells, we too eventually terminate.