The idea of my body becoming old and slowly breaking down is disturbing and highly irritating. I won’t lie; I’d like to live for a very long time. A couple hundred years, at least.

In my vision of the future, we will develop technology to be able to almost always fully repair the human body, as long core parts remain (like the brain). Short of being vaporized, you stand a chance to fully recover from any serious injury. Limbs can be rebuilt. Already we have made such progress. Consider the advances we have made in the last 100 years. We can rebuild almost all broken bones, joints and tendon tears. Some methods are still cruder than others (using metal rods in legs for serious bone fractures) but these techniques are improving every day.

Eventually we will be able to repair and grow tissues, tendons, muscles, nerves and entire limbs, and organs. A huge field of research is focused on rebuilding or rewiring neurons for paralyzed patients so they can regain use of their paralyzed bodies.

For all these things to happen, scientists need to fully understand and master the science of cell generation and stem cell generation (stems cell being the fundamental building blocks since they can differentiate themselves into a wide range of specialized cell types). It seems like every other week another important breakthrough in this area is announced:

• In February, researchers at Harvard Stem Cell Institute have taken a major step towards being able to reprogram adult cells to an embryonic stem cell-like state. Understanding the reprogramming process will allow scientists to aid and direct the body when to rebuild certain damaged areas. Our bodies are amazing machines which can heal themselves to a degree, but we are learning ways to tap into new techniques to do even more amazing things.
• In the same month, researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital “have discovered a dance of proteins that protects certain cells from undergoing apoptosis, also known as programmed cell death. Understanding the fine points of apoptosis is important to researchers seeking ways to control this process.” Understanding how and why cells die not only opens up interesting prospect in limiting the deaths of certain types of limited cells, but also how to address diseases like Parkinson’s disease which cause the early (and unnecessary) deaths of perfectly healthy cells.
• If it wasn’t clear yet that regrowing limbs is not just a science fiction pipe dream, consider that the US Department of Defense is investing $250 million to “to harness stem cell research and technology in finding innovative ways to use a patient’s natural cellular structure to reconstruct new skin, muscles and tendons, and even ears, noses and fingers.” Seriously, try to imagine that. In 10-15 years, we will be able to regrow most extremities and possibly entire limbs.
• In fact, you really need to read this Slate article (which discusses the story above), it’s absolutely mind-blowing stuff, and it’s about to become part of our reality. The article’s is chock full of links to other advances in the regrowth of various body parts: “tissue regeneration is well underway. The military has been working on regrowing lost body parts using extracellular matrices. Scientists in labs have grown blood vessels, livers, bladders, breast implants, and meat. This year they announced the production of beating, disembodied rat hearts.”
• Here’s another great article (with video) of a regrown severed fingertip using a substance made from pig bladders called extracellular matrix. There are labs around the world, which are actively making new body parts. How crazy is that?

Regrowing limbs is just the start, let your mind wander and the possibilities are endless. If we can regrow parts of the bodies, why not the entire body in turn? Is the idea of youth rejuvenation as presented by one of my favorite sci-fi authors Peter F. Hamilton (and I’m sure by many others) a possibility? In 50 years, that may be the reality of the world we live in.

The field of human repair also nicely intersects with the field of cybernetics augmentations (i.e. human bodies augmented with artificial systems).  But I’ll save that topic for next week.

And apologies for the slight delay this week. The intersection of the iPhone conference, poker and alcohol led to some unforeseen delays.

Related Posts

1. Improving the Human Body
2. Nerve Regrowth
3. Medical Advances in Cancer
4. Novel Energy Uses