. What would happen if new cells stopped forming when we reached maturity while old cells never died off?

Question

Then consider what would happen if new cells continued to form while old cells never died off? Think about the renewing of cells in a human body.

Answer 1

cells are prorgammed to die, for a wide variety of reasons. if cells never died off, and new cells continued to form... well that's what cancer is - cells that display uncontrolled growth. this idea of programmed cell death plays a big factor in preventing cancer.

programmed cell death also occurs when a cell is damaged beyond repair or infected with a virus. this prevents the spread of viral infection.