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Not sure where to ask this question and thought this would the best place. I am not after any opinion or theological, philosophical answers. I am after the science or biology research, experiments or facts. I would like the answer to be focused on the following: Why do we die? With the condition that there are no diseases or any outside factors contributing to death.

In a simpler way, what makes us die biologically, physiologically. Is there a trigger? Is it cellular?.... and so on

As per suggested comment, I have researched genetics such as cell regeneration dynamics, Organ's lives studies. Yet I find very little on the brains involvement, nervous system, chemical or anything else on the multitude of systems we have including triggers or irreversible messages from any or these systems

user33232
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  • These answers are not what I am looking for! I need a scientific explanation on any level, like cellular or brain chemistry or how many heartbeats there is in a human... that sort of thing – user33232 Feb 11 '17 at 18:45
  • here is a good answer about the scientific explanation: https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/3fmle0/what_really_causes_death_when_you_die_of_old_age/ – KingBoomie Feb 11 '17 at 18:53
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    This answer is too partial and diverges into diseases. Many people just die of old age without diseases and relatively well balanced, yet they still die. – user33232 Feb 11 '17 at 19:01
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    What research have you done so far to answer your question? – have fun Feb 11 '17 at 19:33
  • Genetics: at one point, our cells regenerate less than what we lose: we get old! Is there a link? There's research on hearts: apparently, they have a certain amount of beats.... that sort of things. Yet I cannot find a complete explanation possibly linking all these factors, or is there another avenue I haven't found yet! – user33232 Feb 11 '17 at 19:42
  • Again, these answers focus on specific issues of dying old, not the pure biology of what I am asking! – user33232 Feb 11 '17 at 20:59
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    In the absence of disease (including starvation, electrolyte imbalance, etc.), there is no death. Old people die of diseases, even if those diseases went undiagnosed while alive. – anongoodnurse Feb 12 '17 at 15:21
  • A possible answer (plus probably a bunch of other factors) is the rate of cell death/damage exceeds that of cell repair as one ages. Search on google for 'The impact of aging on kidney repair' if you want to read more (EDIT: Here's the link https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18287400 ) – Claude Feb 13 '17 at 02:12

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We die of old age because the biological cost of making us live forever does not improve our chances of passing on our genes. In nature something else would kill us eventually so there was never a reason to evolve the ability to live indefinitely. There are multicellular organism that are biologically immortal(all unicellular are), they live slow low activity lives. A lot of the evolution of more "advanced" life is trading regeneration or longevity for higher activity. Literally live fast die young, leave more offspring.

John
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