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What the Free Radical Theory of Ageing Proposes: A Deep Dive into Cellular Damage

In the 1950s, Denham Harman first proposed the free radical theory of ageing, revolutionizing how scientists viewed the aging process. This influential theory suggests that organisms age because cells accumulate damage caused by unstable, highly reactive molecules known as free radicals. This insight has since spurred thousands of research papers into the complex mechanisms of cellular wear and tear.