What do you care about facts? Even your immortal cancer cell isn't
going to live any longer than it's host.
You can and should believe what you want. I now know that this forum
is not the place to find answers.. Just arguements.
If 5000 years qualifies as 'forever' to you, then what do I know, or
care..
I was actually hoping to find out myself, how long they live.. But I
see that those who do know, wouldn't bother with this forum, for good
reason.


Larry Dighera wrote in message . ..
On 23 Jun 2003 15:45:26 -0700, (Bryan) wrote in
Message-Id: :

What's a "telemores"?

telo?mere \"te-le-'mir, "te-\ noun [ISV] (1940)
: the natural end of a eukaryotic chromosome

(C)1996 Zane Publishing, Inc. and Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. All
rights reserved.

Here's a link for you:
http://tinylink.com/?xgHFJEPyui


I think that when discussing the age of any species, it is fair to
keep in mind the difference between "forever", and a few hundred, or a
few thousand years.

How old would a plant have to be to qualify for consideration as a
candidate for proof of its immortality in your view?

Sugesting that orchids may be "immortal" is completely inaccurate, and
I just wanted to steer the discussion away from that conclusion.

I would be interested in learning the source of your sagacious
information. Presumably your assertion is founded on factual data.

Larry Dighera wrote in message . ..
On 22 Jun 2003 16:37:39 -0700, (Bryan) wrote in
Message-Id: :

If orchids can live "forever" then that would put them in a special
category not shared by ANY OTHER living thing in known existence..
Genetic material does decay... Eventually..
No matter how old the plant, or how many times it has devided or grown
new crowns, the genetic structure is as old as the original seedling.
In other words, if the DNA is not refreshed by reproduction, and
sowing of new seed, then like anything else, the life sustaining force
of the genetic structure does eventually die out.
True, with orchids, this may take in excess of 150 years to occur,
given optimum culture... But it will happen.

Would "the life sustaining force" you mention have anything to do with
telomeres?