The researcher Barry Tomlinson and colleagues at the University of Leeds are convinced that because palm trees are plants that live longer, know their biology help us understand what it depends on the longevity of living things, according to the journal American Journal of Botany in its December issue. In the article, the researchers state that the life expectancy of an organism is determined, to a large extent, by the period of time in which its cells remain metabolically active.
Thus, while animals have a "body plan" that prevents them from regenerating senescent organs, plants permanently develop new organs and tissues throughout their lives. And among plants, palm trees are exceptional because, unlike older trees, their trunk is not made up mostly of wood and dead tissue (with only a "living" ring of growing cells), but is packed with cells that live a long time, perhaps the longest that exist on Earth. In other words, while the cells of a tree capable of surviving 3000 years, such as Pinus longaeva , do not usually exceed a century of life, the cells of the trunk of palm trees remain active while the plant remains standing, that is, until 740 years . Understanding why coconut or scar cells seem to have the ability to live "indefinitely" could allow scientists to find the long-awaited source of eternal youth .
