Comments on: Tissue engineering at MIT: where it’s going

By: izumi3682

izumi3682 — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 22:28:30 +0000

MIT is where the “DRACO research is supposed to be occurring. How are we coming on that?

By: melajara

melajara — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 18:50:14 +0000

I wouldn’t be so pessimistic as there is an enormous redundancy in the brain, so what you are losing typically is sharpness but the memories, the feelings and the core of your “self” are quite resistant to damage.

By: Ralph Dratman

Ralph Dratman — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 18:16:39 +0000

I am not sure it will generally be possible to repair the brain after it has begun to deteriorate. Once a nerve cell has died, information has been lost and it seems unlikely that it could be recovered. But I am not understanding exactly what distinction you want to draw between “protect” and “repair.” Maybe there will be routine maintenance of some kind, to clean up oxidation and other unwanted chemical changes before they kill a lot of cells.

By: Mr.X

Mr.X — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 15:40:25 +0000

@Ralph:
There won’t be any substantial extention of life without being able to repair the brain.

It is not necessarily necessary to protect the brain in order to live longer, as long as it still “works”, if you can fix it later on.

For most of us, writing and reading this article right now, prevention is much less of an issue than repair.

Because without the latter, we will be dead pretty soon (objectively) anyway, and won’t be able to live nice lifes while/when we’re “being old”.

By: Ralph Dratman

Ralph Dratman — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 15:16:07 +0000

Until we can protect the brain from the effects of aging, the extension of life often leads, in the final stages, to a sad condition of existence without much humanity.

By: Gorden Russell

Gorden Russell — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 14:31:19 +0000

In time Ramona will be able to print up a new organ for you and stitch it into your body at home on the kitchen table.