Text: Leisurely reading
This is a very rewarding popular science book that I have read recently.
The concept of telomeres is somewhat foreign to the average reader. In fact, as early as the 30s, the American geneticist Müller and the American scientist McClintock had discovered the existence of telomere structure. In the book "Telomeres: The New Science of Youth, Health, and Longevity", the author uses the "belt hoop" at the end of the shoelace to symbolize telomeres, vividly popularizing telomeres and the scientific knowledge related to telomeres.
The book's two authors are Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and Dr. Alyssa Ipal, a leading psychologist on stress, aging and obesity. The two Ph.D. led the reader to explore the new science of health from the aspects of thoughts, emotions, and the influence of the external environment on cells and telomeres, from the aspects of protecting cells and training telomeres.
The opening example of a pair of sister flowers quickly closes the distance between the book and the reader. In fact, this kind of dialogue has happened to almost every one of us. Friends who have not met for a long time, the first words of the meeting are often: Hey, you look young! How did you get listless?!
Why is it that they are obviously the same age, but from a biological point of view, one of them is 10 years older? This is the question that the reader asks at the beginning of the book, and with this question, the two authors begin a journey to solve the puzzle in order to lead the reader.
Some people say that although there are many injustices in this world, it is the same in the face of aging and death. Eternal life was sought by the emperors of all dynasties. Refining elixirs, looking for immortal herbs, and seeking the world's strange people, they look forward to having a elixir to make themselves immortal, but they have never thought of finding the secret code of health and longevity from within their own bodies.
With the passage of time, life sciences have gradually become the focus of scientists; and with the deepening of research, more and more human secrets have been discovered, and telomeres are one of them.
If you use one sentence to summarize the relationship between telomeres and human cells, it is that telomeres affect the rate of cell aging, telomeres wear out, and cells die.
Many people feel that they are about to age because of memory loss. There is a joke that says that you can't remember what just happened, and that you remember what happened when you were a child is old. Whether there is a scientific basis for this statement is unknown, but the decline in memory is indeed very distressing to many people.
The book mentions that the place in the brain that helps memory formation, organization and storage is the hippocampus, and if you want to have a good memory, the body has to constantly renew the cells of the "seahorse", and people with shorter telomeres have smaller "seahorses". This can also be understood from another perspective that the length of telomeres indirectly affects our memory.
Recognizing telomeres, interpreting telomeres, shaping telomeres, making telomeres in each of our bodies healthier, and thus improving our quality of life is what this book wants to convey to the reader. The whole book is divided into four parts, from the inside of the human body to the outside of the human body, from human cells to interpersonal relationships, and interprets the new science of youth and health in an all-round and multi-angle manner. The quotation of a large number of examples narrows the distance between the author and the reader, making this popular science book more vivid and interesting.
For example, Mary Jane, a friend of the author Elizabeth. In her 80s, Mary Jane is energetic and radiant, and her energy has always been the envy of many friends. How to achieve healthy aging like Mary Jane is a new science that everyone needs to know and understand, and the book "Telomeres" provides us with a very convenient way to enter the new science.
New Science for Youth, Health, and Longevity ¥40.8 Purchase
--END--