Apparently you can tell how old cells are based upon pulse chase-like experiments. A group of researchers has done this on human subjects and found that the turnover rate for fat cells is about 10% per year. This result was independent of body mass index and suggests that in early childhood the number of fat cells is determined. Not only is that interesting itself but also interesting is the fact that the 'pulse' used in these experiments were provided by nuclear bomb tests. Genius. At my current computer I can't access the paper, but I wonder if they looked at any other tissues?
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There was a paper in one of the Cell journals a few years back using this for neuron dating, if I remember correctly
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