Why Can’t We Just Live Forever?

Cells are like little workers in our body that help us grow and heal. But when they get tired, they can't work as well anymore. Each time a cell divides, it loses a small piece of its telomeres, which act like the caps on the ends of our DNA strands. When those caps disappear, cells stop working, and we start to age.

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Examples

  1. Cells in your skin divide to help you heal a cut, but over time they get tired and can’t do that anymore.
  2. Your mom’s hair turns gray because her cells are no longer as strong as when she was younger.
  3. When you have telomeres, it's like having extra shoelace caps, the more you have, the longer your DNA can stay intact.

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