The objective for the body and more specifically cells is to monitor its energy potential and well being just like we’d monitor anything else with a modern information system/information technology (IS/IT).
Apoptosis is an intentional death of a cell that triggers a “natural” death, Necrosis is an unintentional death of a cell due to damage. While there are some inherent dangers with existing and making it as difficult today to avoid necrosis as it was yesterday, we can aim to scientifically identify apoptosis and manage it. Most of us are familiar with apoptosis, we call it cancer…a phenomenon where cells don’t know when to call it quits and we suffer as a result of the growth.
The specific technology doesn’t exist yet, but we require a mechanism to measure and regulate mitochondrion decisions on-demand. Let’s get to work people! Is there a way that we could constantly monitor mitochondrial regulation without losing blood regularly like a the annoying finger prick monitoring that diabetics have to currently endure.
Lance Becker does a good job of further elaborating on this topic and charging us with a new objective of creating the technologies that will assist in life management and extension.
A couple of thoughts/corrections- Cancer is not Apoptosis, it is, rather, the failure thereof.
To be useful, non-invasive monitoring of mitochondrial function would have to be tissue specific, as most of the age related mitochondrial dysfunction accumulates more in tissues like the brain than in, say, the blood.