Do Borg Age?

[Bry_Sinclair]

A random thought popped into my head last night when trying to sleep (gotta love a fortnight long bout of insomnia), but do those who are assimilated into the Collective age?

The Borg do have maturation chambers to accelerated the aging of infants and children assimilated, but once mature do they then somehow stop the aging process? The thought popped into my head when thinking about First Contact, when the E-E is caught in the temporal backwash and they get a scan of Earth with 9 billion Borg on the surface, I had to wonder if they were the same people who would've been assimilated in 2063, since no new children would've been produced after the planet was added to the Collective.

 

[Finn]

Seven once said that drones do get discarded after a while, suggesting their bodies can no longer regenerate or accept new implants, etc suggesting their bodies eventually get to a point where they need to die, like the aging process in some ways.

 

[Timofnine]

Their biological and technological distinctiveness is repurposed back in to the collective, anything that can not be recycled is discarded. If you remember in the episode Q Who, the Borg beamed on to the Enterprise D and collected components as well as the remains of the fallen drones which they took back to the cube via transporter beam. They also collected the remains from the Borg scout ship in I, Borg. As for if the Borg age, well, everything does - just at different rates. I guess that this would go for drones too depending on their species of origin though I would imagine that their lifespan is somewhat technologically augmented and enhanced via regeneration chambers.

 

[Farscape One]

Considering Borg nanoprobes can revive necrotic tissue (too bad Janeway didn't bother to use this on other people she lost, like Carey), Borg probably age FAR slower than everyone else.

 

[Deks]

Considering Borg nanoprobes can revive necrotic tissue (too bad Janeway didn't bother to use this on other people she lost, like Carey), Borg probably age FAR slower than everyone else.

This (to a point).
The nanoprobes are also likely used as means to regenerate/rejuvenate the body.
We've also seen on ST: Picard that Jurati as the Borg queen hadn't really aged at all during the 380 odd years.

Its possible that only the Queen is functionally biologically immortal... but I wouldnt' put it past that other drones are too... or at least the ones in Jurati's Cooperative are (the standard Borg drones before Jurati are probably extremely long lived though but otherwise might age... albeit at a far slower rate - therefore your average assimilated Human (pre Jurati Collective) might actually live to 300 years old - a lot more if the nanoprobes also regenerate the body and cells and uses stem cells to reverse cellular damage over time - technically, this way, you can basically regenerate the body indefinitely - as long as you keep senscent cells away and repair the damage, the body should be able to go on indefinitely [barring of course any accidents that could kill drones] - and since the Borg are meticulous about efficiency, I'd imagine that nanoprobes do in fact self-repair/maintain if there's a need so they would almost always function as intended [plus, I doubt the Borg would design nanoprobes to break down over time - in fact, I'd surmise that nothing like this happens to nanoprobes except in cases of external situations that might damage the nanoprobes, and unless of course their programming has been altered) its also possible that the regular Borg queen is functionally immortal as her consciousness resides in the collective (aka, the cloud)... she only uses a physical body on occasion to interact with some individuals of interest, and as long as the collective remains whole, so does the Queen.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Seven has aged in the 20 years since she was de-Borgofied (although it's messy now cos she's in a freshly reBorgified human body)

 

[Deks]

Seven has aged in the 20 years since she was de-Borgofied (although it's messy now cos she's in a freshly reBorgified human body)

Seven did age in the 20 years since she was de-Borgified, but it was stated on screen that nanoprobes could be used to extend a person's lifespan (repair necrotic tissue, and a whole bunch of other things).
Its possible that the nanoprobes in 7's body are 'limited' in functionality... help maintain her cybernetic systems and of course assist in the body's repair/maintenance here and there.
So, 7 could end up living much longer than your average human in Trek would (which to date has been 150 odd years).

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

The secret to life extension is "Nano-probes" =D

 

[Farscape One]

(sounding like Mork)
Nano, Nano.

 

[Deks]

The secret to life extension is "Nano-probes" =D

Along with the transporter, and the Ba'Ku planet.

 

[Eyesonlyvideo]

Yes, they get recycled

 

[Sketcher]

It's hard to tell under all the Borgifications, but Seven's dad didn't look older when he appeared beside the queen in Dark Frontier.

 

[Farscape One]

To be fair, it's also hard to tell with all the Borgifying of the skin that makes people look like zombies.

 

[Qonundrum]

On the plus side, Borgification makes ageism obsolete

 

[JesterFace]

Here's a funny one for you.
Have you paid attention to the skin of the Borg?
Obviously they age.
Well, maybe it wasn't that funny....

 

[Locutus of Bored]

The Borg can walk in space with their skin exposed and no need to breathe, don't eat or drink normal food or water any more (just whatever is provided by regenerating), don't appear to age across several decades or even centuries, can be resurrected from being dead for 72+ hours, etc. They get worn out and recycled sometimes, but that is unlikely to correspond to the conventional aging process and rather just how the particular drone is utilized, since drones we've seen being recycled for their components didn't seem to be any older in age than any other drone.

They are, for all practical purposes, self-repairing zombies, and therefore outside any normal human conception of aging.

 

[Farscape One]

They are self-repairing zombies.

I feel like this is the tagline to a movie...

 

[Orphalesion]

I feel like this is the tagline to a movie...

Considering how done to death zombies are that probably is like half a dozen movies.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Considering how done to death zombies are that probably is like half a dozen movies.

Ironically enough, the latest is called Zombies: Done to Death Pt. VI - Half Deadzen

 

[Orphalesion]

Ironically enough, the latest is called Zombies: Done to Death Pt. VI - Half Deadzen

...is that real? I wouldn't know, because I hate Zombie movies/shows/media.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

...is that real?

No. I was just playing off your comment.