Abstract
Over a century ago, Ehrengerg (1838) came to the conclusion that the protozoa are potentially immortal. Later, Weismann (1891) stated that the protoplasm or cells of a metazoan animal could be classified into two groups, namely, the body or somatic protoplasm and the germinal protoplasm. He proposed the idea that the former is mortal but the germinal protoplasm is potentially immortal. Weismann contended that old age and natural death are penalties demanded of the metazoa, including man, because of their specialization and differentiation into somatic and germinal protoplasm, whereas the protozoa, without this protoplasmic specialization, are potentially immortal like the germ cells.
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© 1986 Plenum Press, New York
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Wichterman, R. (1986). The Life Cycle, Longevity, and Aging. In: The Biology of Paramecium. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0372-6_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0372-6_9
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
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