每日口說挑戰為何我們會老化？是否能停止老化，永垂不朽？ (How Long Will You Live?)

主持人 : Ken Miao

為什麼我們一定要變老？
長生不老其實對身體更不好！？
（秦始皇：徐福，慢！）

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為何我們會老化？是否能停止老化，永垂不朽？ (How Long Will You Live?)

Cancer cells have really long telomeres, and they can divide indefinitely, and that is the problem with cancer: cancer is dividing cells that won't stop and they won't die.

癌細胞有相當長的端粒，而且它們能無限地分裂，這就是癌症問題所在：癌症是不停止分裂就不會死亡的分裂細胞群。

句子選自此影片：為何我們會老化？是否能停止老化，永垂不朽？ (How Long Will You Live?)

學習重點

1. telomere端粒（染色體末端的DNA重複序列）

telomere

['teləˌmɪr](n.)端粒（染色體末端的DNA重複序列）

2. indefinite不確定的

indefinite

[ɪnˈdɛfənɪt](adj.)不確定的

3. divide分開；分裂（細胞）

divide

[dɪˈvaɪd](v.)分開；分裂（細胞）

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Ken Miao4 年前

[Transcript]

Hey folks, Ken here. Today we’re gonna talk about something people have been wanting to do since the beginning of time, which is how to live longer. Back in the ancient days, emperors and kings have been tirelessly looking for the elixir of life, whereas nowadays, thanks to science, we know that the secret to life is actually within our cells. It is an irrefutable fact that not just humans, every living being eventually dies, it’s the part of an everlasting cycle which we refer to as life.

Aging is not recognized as a disease because it’s something that happens from birth, which makes us bigger, better, stronger, faster, and more intelligent. However, at some point in our lives, it reverses, and aging makes our bodies decay and degrade. But, why is that? Why do we have to age? Why do our bodies have to decay? A key discovery was made by a biologist named Hayflick. He was studying normal human cells and what he found was that they can only divide a finite number of times, 50 times on average, until it finally stops because it can no longer divide. It's as if there’s a little timer inside our cells that tells them when to stop dividing, and that little timer is called a “telomere”. Picture your shoelaces, you know there’s a little piece of plastic at the very end of a shoelace. Telomeres are just like the plastic ends of your shoelace, and they’re located in the chromosome. Every time a cell divides, it loses some of the telomere, which tells the cell how many times it’s divided.

You would think, “Is there a way to stop the telomeres from being shorter?”. The answer is, yes. There’s another enzyme called “telomerase”, which rebuilds the telomere. However, this actually serves as a double-edged sword. You see, cancer cells have really long telomeres, and they can actually divide indefinitely, and that is the problem with cancer: cancer is dividing cells that won't stop and they won't die. So… maybe aging is the right thing to do, maybe it serves as a defensive mechanism to prevent our cells from being too active which eventually becomes… cancerous.

If only there’s a way we can make use of cancer cells in a rather conducive and positive way… Hmm, before that, maybe it’s more pragmatic for us to live in the moment and simply cherish the day.

And now it’s time for our sentence of the day:

Cancer cells have really long telomeres, and they can divide indefinitely, and that is the problem with cancer: cancer is dividing cells that won't stop and they won't die.

[Vocabulary words]

1. telomere
a structure at the end of a chromosome that protects it and becomes shorter each time a cell divides.

Ex: (Make a sentence, challenge yourself! :D)

2. divide
to separate into parts or groups

Ex: At the end of the lecture, the students were divided into small discussion groups.
講座結束後，學生被分成了幾個討論小組。

3. indefinite
not exact, not clear, or without clear limits

Ex: The project has been postponed for an indefinite period.
這項專案被無限延期了。

Alright, that’s all the time we have for today.
I don’t know if humans are ever going to live forever
But I certainly hope that there are enough vaccine doses for everyone.
Stay safe and be happy.
This is Ken Miao and I’ll see you again next week.