Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Comment on thread on bioprinters and agelessness

Neurons in mice, iirc, last over twice as long as mice limited only by new host lifespan, think it was [in] rats [when transplanted].  In humans neurons last at least 50% longer than average as evidenced by the longest lived human.   Some have hypothesized that neurons may not exhibit signs of aging in and of themselves, but that their decay may be the result of aging supporting cells.    Therapies are underway to try and rejuvenate supporting cells, and if these ideas are right, they may reverse signs of brain decay if caught on time before neural loss occurs.

Right now bowhead neurons, unless we find there's regeneration throughout their brains, these neurons likely exhibit high metabolic activity, have over 200 year lifespan, and do not likely differ too much from our neurons in terms of maintenance and repair.   That additional virtual century likely came without nature having to implement ever more elaborate solutions as hypothesized by those who believe extensive engineering is necessary to achieve agelessness.

The longer lived a species the closer it is to agelessness, the more minute the necessary changes should be, and perhaps they may be inducible even by drug cocktails.

Now as for bioprinters, the issue of need for vasculature, for nutrient exchange and waste removal, the problems with deep 3d printing, could be solved in part if we used genetic modification to imbue the ability to vastly reduce metabolic rate perhaps even suspend it whie conditions improve and become adequate.   

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