Canalisation

The central sentence, in the author's own words, we propose that aging reflects progressive decanalization of mammalian cell identity.

De-canalization is a mouthful.

Hold onto it for a few minutes because it's the whole idea here.

And notice the verb, we propose.

The valley walls keep the cell on its path.

The Nature Review runs that word backwards.

De-canalization means the walls wear down as we age.

Cells start to drift out of their valleys.