Submitted by an711098 t3_y44b9f in askscience
If we compare a 50 y/o human and a 50 y/o mammal with a 200-year life span, have both organisms experienced a similar number of apoptosis cycles? Do cells grow and die at a slower rate in long-lived organisms, or do they cycle at the same pace, but the organisms have more ways to stop awry cells before they develop into tumours? Or something third I’m not thinking of? I’m trying to understand if, say, their mitochondria or some other structural element is inherently different or if they have more ways to “take out the trash”? TIA!