6 Sep
2012
6 Sep
'12
10:02 p.m.
I forgot to say that one of the easiest ways to get cells to stop dividing is to greatly reduce their energy supply. Dividing cells--i.e., those copying DNA--use far more energy than do non-dividing cells (unless they are active muscle cells, which convert chemical energy into mechanical energy, or so-called "brown fat" cells, which convert fat directly into heat w/o requiring any muscle activity).
At 04:54 PM 9/6/2012, Warren Smith wrote:
If our DNA copying were any less thermodynamically efficient, and we continued to copy at the same rate, our dividing cells would fry themselves like a fried egg.
--utter bull. DNA copying is a very small expenditure in human cells compared to other stuff.