A Bacterial Kind of Aging

Quora referenced this article in "Why is death a necessary feature for all living things?" on 06 Oct 2011 at 17:03 GMT

"Bacteria get old and die too. When they split, the "parent" retains a disproportionate load of damaged proteins, while the "child" gets essentially a clean slate. With age, the "parent" accumulates so much damage that it dies. See http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pgen.0030224 It makes me wonder if even redwood trees would ultimately die from old age, and it just takes millennia rather than centuries for it to happen."