<p>Do you know that our body does have an expiry date set by our cells ability to decide? A blood analysis of the world's oldest woman may have revealed this secret.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Born in 1890, Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper died in 2005. She reportedly enjoyed crystal clear cognition and a disease-free blood circulatory system till death.<br /><br />Now, after inspecting her blood sample in great detail, Dutch scientists have discovered that once a stem cell has reached its cap, it can no longer replenish tissues.<br /><br />"Is there a limit to the number of stem cell divisions, and does that imply that there is a limit to human life?" Henne Holstege of the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam was quoted as saying in New Scientist.<br /><br />According to researchers, van Andel-Schipper was down to just two stem cells at the time of her death- fueling two-thirds of her white blood cells.<br /><br />Virtually every stem cell she began her long life with had burned out, said a report in huffingtonpost.com.<br /><br />"The fact that van Andel-Schipper had whittled down her stem cells to just a pair over her long life suggests that mortality is capped," the report added.<br /><br />It also suggests scientists may find ways to remove that cap. The study was published in the journal Genome Research.</p>
<p>Do you know that our body does have an expiry date set by our cells ability to decide? A blood analysis of the world's oldest woman may have revealed this secret.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Born in 1890, Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper died in 2005. She reportedly enjoyed crystal clear cognition and a disease-free blood circulatory system till death.<br /><br />Now, after inspecting her blood sample in great detail, Dutch scientists have discovered that once a stem cell has reached its cap, it can no longer replenish tissues.<br /><br />"Is there a limit to the number of stem cell divisions, and does that imply that there is a limit to human life?" Henne Holstege of the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam was quoted as saying in New Scientist.<br /><br />According to researchers, van Andel-Schipper was down to just two stem cells at the time of her death- fueling two-thirds of her white blood cells.<br /><br />Virtually every stem cell she began her long life with had burned out, said a report in huffingtonpost.com.<br /><br />"The fact that van Andel-Schipper had whittled down her stem cells to just a pair over her long life suggests that mortality is capped," the report added.<br /><br />It also suggests scientists may find ways to remove that cap. The study was published in the journal Genome Research.</p>