Coprolite Newsletter, October 2006

When I was little, most of what I learned came from those who were bigger than me. My parents taught me the rules of life, my teachers taught me the multiplication tables, and the school bully taught me to walk home in a convoy with some friends.

Now that I’ve attained seniorhood, most of what I learn seems to come from people or things that are smaller than me. From my two-year-old grandson, who was in town last week for a visit, I relearned how to giggle without inhibition. Then there was the ladybug that perched on the outside of my windshield yesterday and held on for miles no matter how fast I drove. From her, I learned strength, determination, and when to let go. (She let go at exactly the right time -- just before I had to turn on those dangerous windshield wipers.) And now, according to some articles I’ve seen, the greatest lesson of all may come from the smallest teacher of all, a single cell. A stem cell, to be specific.

These innocent little cells have unwittingly stirred up a lot of controversy lately. It turns out that stem cells hold the promise of curing a lot of diseases and injuries because of their unique ability to turn themselves into any kind of tissue or organ in our bodies. However, they are generally obtained from aborted fetuses, which of course arouses great opposition. Scientists are starting to have some success in developing usable stem cell lines from adults.

But these medical aspects aren’t the reason why I’m bringing up stem cells. I don’t think I currently need an injection of them to fix any major organ in my body. (Knock on wood!) I just think they have a lot to teach us by example.

Think about it. Stem cells are what biologists call undifferentiated. They’re like a blank canvass. They can turn into anything. And their DNA is essentially immortal.

Later, after they decide whether to become muscle, bone, liver, or skin, they start to get set in their ways. They change their appearance, their behavior, their whole outlook. And they start to age.

Once cells get set in their ways, the shoelace-like telemeres at the end of their DNA get a little shorter each time they divide. The cells can only divide so many times and then they get old and can’t carry on any more.

Isn’t that sort of what happens to us? We start out a blank canvass. We can develop an enthusiasm for almost anything. But in school we start to specialize -- in math or language or sports or whatever. Then we get a job and specialize further. We join unions, chambers of commerce, and political parties. Even our hobbies become specialized. We turn into bowlers or watercolor painters or TV addicts. The more we specialize and harden, and the less we are open to experimenting with other lifestyles, the more we age.

It seems to me that the antidote to aging is to adopt the philosophy of a stem cell. We should become undifferentiated, open to everything. This can help no matter what stage of life we happen to be in right now.

Kids nowadays would benefit from more undifferentiated playtime. Instead of all those organized sports with coaches and referees, they could play pickup softball or kick the can, making up the rules themselves like my friends and I used to do.

Young adults need to be flexible and undifferentiated too. Even the best job can suddenly disappear, and entire career fields become obsolete. People who are open to change are better suited to jump to a new one.

We seniors, especially, need to avoid getting too set in our ways. We need that fountain of youth effect more than anybody.

We could start by giving up our recliner once in a while in favor of a bike seat or deck chair or roller coaster. We could take a new look at our wardrobe, diet, and politics. We could seek out new friends, and then introduce them to our old ones.

Always being open to new possibilities makes us undifferentiated, just like that little stem cell. It’s the key to staying ever young.

––Wayne Adams
wayne@coprolites.com
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