Aging error catastrophe

Protein synthesis is a series of reactions, each with a high degree of fidelity. Yet mistakes can occur as a result of mistranslation, incorporation of unusual amino acids that are substrates of tRNA acylation reactions, premature termination of nascent peptides, and point mutations where amino acids are substituted (Ballard, 1977). Errors in protein synthesis are especially important if they are introduced into an enzyme, since the catalytic properties of the enzyme may be modified. If such errors occurred in ribosomal proteins or in other enzymes associated with protein synthesis, RNA synthesis, or DNA replication, a cell could be faced with a cataclysmic series of mistakes. Indeed, this concept forms the basis of a theory of aging, the "error catastrophe" theory of Orgel (1963, 1973). It is hardly surprising, therefore, that cells... 

Natural Catastrophes (earthquakes, floods) Climate/Environmental Factors (high soil chloride concentrations, rapid microbiological digestion, heavy use of de-icing salts) Conflicts (physical damage) Design/Construction Errors (chloride attack, reinforcement corrosion alkali silica reaction) and of course Age Effects (carbonation, long term erosion). 

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