Can clonal plants live forever?

Despite the many cosmetic products, surgical treatments, food supplements, and drugs designed specifically to reverse the biological effects of ageing in humans, long-lived aspen clones aren't so lucky. Researchers at the University of British Columbia have shown that as long-lived male aspen clones age, their sexual performance declines. Dilara Ally, who conducted this research for her Ph.D., also showed that with that loss of sex and sexual fitness, ultimately the lineage could go extinct. The findings will be published next week in the online, open access journal PLoS Biology...

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