Senescent cells, characterized by dysregulated epigenomes, are alive but not dividing, and they cause inflammation and increase cancer risk through the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP).

“So when the epigenome becomes too dysregulated and this ex-differentiation process happens, cells can either die, they can become a cancer/ But what the body tries to do is to prevent that by shutting these cells down and make them more like zombies; they're alive but they're not dividing, and they're causing havoc.”