Cancer and Wisdom of the Body: Cellular Automata

Aging velocity

The experiment starts when CA has reached its steady state. The experimental clock is set to t = 0. The time unit is one day. Max age is infinite and cells do not die. Their age distribution at t = 30, is given below. The aging velocity distribution shows that each cell ages at a different velocity. The lowest figure depicts aging of cells at positions 50 and 47.

In the next experiment max age = 80. Cells older than 80 days die. The image below is the CA age distribution. The different shades of gray are proportional to cell age. White represents age = 0, and black, age = 80.

The image below depicts the age, and mean age velocity distributions of the CA. Below are two age trajectories of cells at respective positions, 50 and 42. The age velocity distribution demonstrates, that some cells do not age. Their aging velocity = 0. Like the cell at position = 50. Initially it aged but later on it stopped aging.

Biological age

Chapters 11, and 12 describe the nature of biological age. Processes in our body age at different velocities, which is most conspicuous in tissues. Gut epithelia reach full maturity in two days, while skin epithelia mature after three weeks. Biological age of gut epithelia advances faster than that of skin cells. And when we die, our skin cells continue aging (living) for hours after we have been pronounced dead. To describe our aging we apply physical (chronological) time. In this framework ageing is constant. Each year we age by one year.