25 years ago I had a spirited discussion with my AP Biology teacher where I posited a similar theory when we were discussing (and running experiments on) genetic mutations. It was "spirited" because she was rather dismissive of the idea, and my (likely overconfident) teenage brain did not understand her response and reasoning. She was otherwise a great teacher.

There's been several articles over these last decades that have covered different iterations of genetic aging, and I think about that discussion every time. I wonder if she's read any of them and also thought about that discussion.