Our closest worm kin regrow body parts, raising hopes of regeneration in humans
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Re: Our closest worm kin regrow body parts, raising hopes of regeneration in humans
#2Well, a plausible answer is that if we (or random mutations) re-enable those genes then the end result is simply a lot of cancer.
A reasonable default assumption is that each switch in our "genetic configuration" is set to a quite good value.
The only exception is if we see a feature that is beneficial at a high calorie cost - those features have been (reasonably) optimized away during our evolution, but would be useful in modern circumstances where food is not scarce anymore; this is a tradeoff where it would make sense to just turn the dial way to the right from where it had been throughout the last million years.
Re: Our closest worm kin regrow body parts, raising hopes of regeneration in humans
#3Well, a plausible answer is that if we (or random mutations) re-enable those genes then the end result is simply a lot of cancer. A reasonable default assumption is that each switch in our "genetic configuration" is set to a quite good value. The only exception is if we see a feature that is beneficial at a high calorie cost - those features have been (reasonably) optimized away during our evolution, but would be use…
And perhaps some people might risk the chance of cancer to grow their body parts back.
Re: Our closest worm kin regrow body parts, raising hopes of regeneration in humans
#4Well, a plausible answer is that if we (or random mutations) re-enable those genes then the end result is simply a lot of cancer. A reasonable default assumption is that each switch in our "genetic configuration" is set to a quite good value. The only exception is if we see a feature that is beneficial at a high calorie cost - those features have been (reasonably) optimized away during our evolution, but would be use…
And perhaps some people might risk the chance of cancer to grow their body parts back.
Also with regeneration just cut out large chunks containing cancer and hope round 2 of your lungs is better!
Re: Our closest worm kin regrow body parts, raising hopes of regeneration in humans
#5Well, a plausible answer is that if we (or random mutations) re-enable those genes then the end result is simply a lot of cancer. A reasonable default assumption is that each switch in our "genetic configuration" is set to a quite good value. The only exception is if we see a feature that is beneficial at a high calorie cost - those features have been (reasonably) optimized away during our evolution, but would be use…
if you got cancer, just cut that piece off and eat more?
Re: Our closest worm kin regrow body parts, raising hopes of regeneration in humans
#6It seems like the cells in a worm are relatively position-independent, so they can regrow using only local information.
If you lopped off your leg, a cell would need to know how much of the leg to regrow to get to the kneecaps, how much to grow to get to the foot, or more. If you chopped off a foot, it seems hard to know which parts need to be regrown and which don't. There's a lot of complexity in a foot.
Re: Our closest worm kin regrow body parts, raising hopes of regeneration in humans
#7Well, a plausible answer is that if we (or random mutations) re-enable those genes then the end result is simply a lot of cancer. A reasonable default assumption is that each switch in our "genetic configuration" is set to a quite good value. The only exception is if we see a feature that is beneficial at a high calorie cost - those features have been (reasonably) optimized away during our evolution, but would be use…
>Well, a plausible answer is that if we (or random mutations) re-enable those genes then the end result is simply a lot of cancer.
Interesting idea, but does the risk of cancer have that much selective pressure? It tends to be the "last thing that kills you", after you live long enough to survive everything else. So it seems like any increased risk of cancer would have to be pretty high before it traded off against injury recovery. Then again, "injury recovery" might not have been as beneficial either -- the time to regenerate would still leave you vulnerable, so adaptations favoring avoidance of that injury would have a leg up in selective pressure.
Re: Our closest worm kin regrow body parts, raising hopes of regeneration in humans
#8Well, a plausible answer is that if we (or random mutations) re-enable those genes then the end result is simply a lot of cancer. A reasonable default assumption is that each switch in our "genetic configuration" is set to a quite good value. The only exception is if we see a feature that is beneficial at a high calorie cost - those features have been (reasonably) optimized away during our evolution, but would be use…
Most likely cancer as a disease will be a solved problem before we could enable this body part regeneration thing...if ever.
Re: Our closest worm kin regrow body parts, raising hopes of regeneration in humans
#9I'm a huge believer that humans can cherry-pick the best traits of many different species and apply them to ourselves. It might sound like science fiction right now, bit give it time and we humans will have unlocked some crazy things that we claimed to be "impossible." It's always impossible until it's done. And to be honest, I think the second something is thought of, it becomes possible. I live for this shit.
Re: Our closest worm kin regrow body parts, raising hopes of regeneration in humans
#10I'm a huge believer that humans can cherry-pick the best traits of many different species and apply them to ourselves. It might sound like science fiction right now, bit give it time and we humans will have unlocked some crazy things that we claimed to be "impossible." It's always impossible until it's done. And to be honest, I think the second something is thought of, it becomes possible. I live for this shit.
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