Ed
(Edward Chusid) (ejc@umich.edu) (pager 495-8041)
On Mon, 7 Jul 1997, Mathew Korica wrote:
> Transhuman Mailing List
>
> I just watched "Man Immortal" on TLC and I must say that despite the
> title of their program, their conclusions were disappointing. Something
> to the effect of: "Though man may die, mankind will live forever" and
> sap like that.
>
> They put the viewer on a bit of a roller-coaster ride with segments
> about some new research or discovery with fantastic potential, then
> tempering our enthusiasm with the downside (example: we might be able to
> change our "clock" genes but the free radicals will get us anyway).
>
> They ended off with finding a way to make our cells renew themselves
> indefinately so as to avoid free radical damage. Though they suggest
> this is possible, apparently the cell reproduction goes out of control,
> inevitably leading to cancer. And then you die.
>
> I don't follow their logic however: If the point of cell renewal is to
> replace damaged cells, and our red blood cells (for instance) can do
> this more rapidly than cells in other parts of our body, why couldn't we
> make these other cells work at least as well (once we find the way to
> reprogram them) and keep their reproduction stable as that of the red
> blood cells?
>
> Mat
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