From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@www.aeiveos.com)
Date: Mon Aug 30 1999 - 01:42:45 MDT
On Sun, 29 Aug 1999, Brian Manning Delaney wrote:
> Hi Greg. I've followed White's research a bit, and I believe
> this is indeed an accurate report on the state of his research.
I think White gave a presentation at A4M a couple of years ago.
> Stem cell research will soon obviate any need for whole
> part/organ replacement, I'm guessing -- at least in many cases.
I'm of the opinion that one of the major problems is the
cell division rate. How long does it take you to grow
a 5 kg (?) liver from a single cell with a 24 hour
doubling time? {I could compute this since I'm pretty
sure the information is in NM, but I'm being lazy tonight.}
The question comes down to how much you can "push"
mammalian growth (e.g. with hyperoxygenation/glucose
levels, hormones, etc.). What is the fastest growing mammal?
And would this result in an organ that was "prematurely"
aged? [Pushing division rates=pushing mutations, pushing
oxygen levels=pushing free radical damage, pushing glucose=
pushing protein glycosylation, etc.]
>
> It's in the case of the
> brain, above all, that I think stem cell infusion could be
> extremely beneficial. The newer cells could just take up the
> connections currently maintained by older cells (which taking up
> might require, though, "rehearsing the thought" that the old
> cells are maintaining).
I've thought about this as well. I think there are going to
be three very interesting avenues; (a) hormones to promote
axonal hypergrowth; (b) hormones to promote stem cell multiplication
and (c) stem cell injections, perhaps followed by (a) or (b).
I think (a) gets you back to the childhood state of hyperlearning,
perhaps sacrificing some of your "known" knowledge. I agree
that rehearsing would repattern old memories on new cells, I
suspect however that without such rehearsing (and I'm sure
you can't rehearse "everything"), that much of the old information
will fade away.
I am "Robert Bradbury++++", my mind has been painted over four
times, I can no longer remember my childhood, etc. I think
Heinlein discussed that Lazarus Long had undergone some mental
compression to make room for more information as the years
had gone by. [I guess thats what happens without nanotech!]
> In fact, it seems that we pretty much have the science for this
> to take place -- certainly in many organs -- just not, for the
> most part, the technology (though even that we partly have, in a
> not thoroughly tested form).
People will die and be lost forever while we wait for the tests...
Robert
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