Living in cold habitats

[palladium]

Hi all! This is just an idea that I'm curious about.

Today in class, we were discussing enzymes, and we came to the point that they don't denature even if the environment is too cold - they just work at a slower rate. Our teacher said that, for example, if you placed cockroaches in a freezer, they would survive - their enzymes will work at a slower rate and therefore they aged less quickly.

... does this mean that people living in cold environments will have longer lives? I believe that's the case with some animals - I've tried Googling and not much comes up, so I was wondering what the thoughts of fellow biology students were...

sorry if it sounds like a stupid question

[pi]

Hypothermia.

You'd die from it very quickly. I definitely wouldn't recommend comparing cockroaches and humans in terms of survival mechanisms

[Daenerys Targaryen]

I'd expect humans who live in colder conditions to have their enzymes working harder.

Human survival requires the body temperature to be 37 or 37.7 degrees. Thus homeostasis will have to maintain that body heat.

If the external environment is colder, then there must be more metabolic activity to increase heat exertion, keeping the body warm.

Basically due to homeostasis, I find it unlikely

[alondouek]

... does this mean that people living in cold environments will have longer lives? I believe that's the case with some animals - I've tried Googling and not much comes up, so I was wondering what the thoughts of fellow biology students were...

Not really. People living in colder environments have specific physiological adaptations (i.e. more fat storage more energy storage) and different dietary requirements (re: higher fat content in food) that allow their bodies to function regularly, and maintain a core temperature in the normal range.

Hence, their enzymes' rates of reaction would be pretty much the same as ours.

Also, the rate of aging is controlled by so many other factors that a change in overall enzymatic activity wouldn't be too significant - have a read of the Wikipedia page on telomeres

[Daenerys Targaryen]

Also, the rate of aging is controlled by so many other factors that a change in overall enzymatic activity wouldn't be too significant - have a read of the Wikipedia page on telomeres

I've heard that telomeres can dictate how long an individual can live for :O
Also that as we age they begin to disintegrate and become shorter.

[Snorlax]

Hi all! This is just an idea that I'm curious about.

Today in class, we were discussing enzymes, and we came to the point that they don't denature even if the environment is too cold - they just work at a slower rate. Our teacher said that, for example, if you placed cockroaches in a freezer, they would survive - their enzymes will work at a slower rate and therefore they aged less quickly.

... does this mean that people living in cold environments will have longer lives? I believe that's the case with some animals - I've tried Googling and not much comes up, so I was wondering what the thoughts of fellow biology students were...

sorry if it sounds like a stupid question

Our textbook/teacher just told us: Higher metabolism---->Lower lifespan and vice versa

[alondouek]

I've heard that telomeres can dictate how long an individual can live for :O
Also that as we age they begin to disintegrate and become shorter.

Well, telomeres are there to (amongst other things) prevent the deterioration of chromosomes. You could think of them as a sort of armour for the chromosome; it's effective in preventing damage to the body beneath it, but it gets weaker with each hit it takes. The same is true for telomeres, in a sense, as with each subsequent process of chromosomal replication (through cell division) that occurs, the telomeres get shorter and shorter.

[Russ]

In *general* you can make comments about "more telomerase = longer life" / "less meat = longer life" / "more metabolism = shorter life" etc. but these things are only really relevant when considered in and of themselves. In context they aren't particularly powerful predictors of lifespan, especially given all the other things that can go wrong and change your health etc.

[palladium]

Thanks everyone for your insights I hadn't thought of most of these.

I originally meant colder environments that were still habitable by humans - I wasn't trying to suggest that we should all go live in the freezer! Just to clarify haha

[BigAl]

In fact people living in hot areas grow much faster. This is particularly because of the effects of the sun, making enzymes working much faster. And I heard that girls get married at the age of 8 in Saudi Arabia because girls start becoming mature at that age

[pi]

And I heard that girls get married at the age of 8 in Saudi Arabia because girls start becoming mature at that age

Let's not go there, but I doubt that's the reason