Lifespan of cell

Answer 1

It depends on what cell it is. e.g. blood cell, skin cell, stomach tissue cell

Recent studies have shown that few cells live as long as the individual they belong to without renewal. A majority, if not all, the cells making up the cerebral cortex belong to this small group. The life span of some other human cells are as follows:

Lifespan of select human cells:Cell Type -- Lifespan

• Granulocytes -- 10 hours to 3 days
• Stomach lining cells -- 2 days
• Sperm cells -- 2-3 days
• Stomach lining cells -- 2 days
• Colon cells -- 3-4 days
• Epithelia of small intestine -- 1 week or less
• Platelets -- 10 days
• Skin epidermal cells -- 2 - 4 weeks
• Lymphocytes -- 2 months - a year
• Red blood cells -- 4 months
• Stomach lining cells -- 2 days
• Macrophages -- months - years
• Endothelial cells -- months - years
• Pancreas cells -- 1 year or more
• Bone Cells -- 25 - 30 years

Answer 2

Ok, the first thing to know is that new cells enter the blood stream twice a day every day. So, if you were to graph out the ages of the red cells in your blood stream, you should get a straight horizontal line . In principle, the same number of cells which die off today will be replaced by new cells today.

Granulocytes - usually liver between 7 -10 days Lymphocytes - varies by type. Some live 30-60 days; others for years perhaps for a lifetime. Monocytes - usually 5-7 days Platelets - usually 10 -12 days These numbers do not include the amount of time it takes for them to mature in the bone marrow. It only reflects the time they live in the blood stream. found on

These numbers assume that there is no stress on the particular cell. For example, granulocytes may only life 2 days if there is a significant infection. Platelets may only live a few hours if there is a bleeding episode.

Aspirin is only biologically active for about 20 minutes. So, those platelets which are in the "area" of the aspirin are permanently prevented from using a specific enzyme pathway. Not all platelets are close enough to the aspirin during its biological activity to be damaged so this does not happen to the entire population of platelets. It also doesn't happen only to young or old platelets - it happens to those which are in the area.

Answer 3

It varies. Generally, big animals, like elephants, live longer than little ones, like mice, but there are oddities. Several birds, notably crows and woodpeckers and parrots, have lives comparable to those of humans. The giant tortoise is often considered the longest-lived animal, but there are deep sea creatures which don't seem to age as a natural function, so they live until something eats them.

Answer 4

Not sure about plant cell, or the general animal cell. A white blood cell can last anywhere from 13-20 days! (don't worry I got this from a scientific website!)