The article "Elderly Chromosomes Activate Genes Differently Than in the Young" explains how not only does the appearance of an elderly person wrinkle and sag as they age, their genes also go through the same changes. As the genes grow older, they tend to wrinkle and curl up. This coiling that they do makes the DNA within them harder to access. Our genes get damaged over the course of our lives. We age because our genes work less and less sufficiently as we get older. UConn Health and JAX-GM did a study on how the immune system cells change as someone gets older. It ended up showing that the genes that help differentiate the T-Cells in our bodies (the genes that defend us from viruses like the flu) are more open in the younger ages so the genes are accessible.
I have heard about this concept before, but was not sure how it all made sense. After reading this article, it is clear that genes do in fact age with us, leaving problems with our immune system and our whole body in general.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171031135710.htm
http://genetics.thetech.org/original_news/news93
