Why is partial immortalization theoretically and technologically possible?

There are two main arguments supporting our modal statement:
i., negative: there is not any particular natural law, neither biological, nor physical which excludes this possibility.

ii., positive: we could extrapolate the technological draft of a regeneration treatment of the whole human body from the present results and methods of regenerative medicine.

Concerning the first argument, the impossibility proof of something which is not based on an outright logical contradicition, is very hard. But the argument does not say nothing about the realisation of pimm, it just opens some place in the possibility space. What if opposition considers, that entropy, in the statistical "disorder" sense, could cause a problem, say: the second law of thermodynamics necessarily excludes the possibility of pimm, because the total entropy of the human body increases over time and approaching a maximum value? Now the second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy of an isolated system will tend to increase over time, approaching a maximum value. One point, where this metaphorical counterargument goes wrong is "isolated system". In thermodynamics, an isolated system is a physical system that does not interact with its surroundings. The human body is not an isolated, and not even a closed system, because it can exchange heat, work, i.e. energy and matter with its environment. I am pleased to announce that the human body is an open system.

Another source of objection could be based on evolution, but I discuss the connection between pimm, evolution and ageing later.

The second, positive argument is a macroargument, and the technological part of the pimm book tries to explicate this draft. An assertive quote:

”The promise of scientifically verified immortality has gained credibility with every successful organ transplant.” Frank Pasquale: Two concepts of immortality. Yale Journal of Law & the Humaities

Next: Maximum or radical life extension?

Originally posted at May 4th, 2006, http://attilachordash.wordpress.com/

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Stem cells and regenerative medicine (very short introduction)

The exact definition of stem cell is sometimes cloudy, but we do know 2 generally accepted criteria: stem cells are able to renew themselves and could differentiate into other type of cells. First, they are unspecialized, mitotic cells that renew themselves for any (i.e. long) periods through series of cell divisions, which result in similar unspecialized stem cells. This is the so called and overstated “immortality” characteristics. The other side of the stem cell coin is that under certain physiologic or experimental conditions (know it’s vague a bit), they can be induced to become differentiated cells with special functions such as the contractile cells of the striatal muscle or the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. So stem cells are those cells, which give rise to an identical, undifferentiated, mitotic stem cell and a more specialised cell with another phenotype through an asymmetric cell division. The resulting progenitor cells mature into functional, specialised cells of the organism. What kind of cells they could be, is partly the function of the developmental potential of the cells and the local environment, where these cells anchor.
Regenerative medicine is the science and technology built around stem cells’ regenerative capacity. This is a whole new concept compared to the traditional medicine: the aim is to facilitate and amplify or replace the native regenerative potential of the organism, the targeted tissue or organ based on the results of developmental biology and biotechnology. Classical medicine focuses on the patomechanism of the illness, the elimination of cell death, and tissue protection, while regenerative research does not care about the causes of the injury, and its aim is not to eliminate the harmful effects of the injury, but to replace, and renew the damaged function. Here, in the NIH Glossary, you can acquire the basic language of stem cell biology.

Human stem cells in a relative harmony. Nuclei stained with Hoechst (blue), which bind to DNA. Author’s shot.

Coming soon: Why is pimm theoretically and technologically possible? Two arguments.

Originally posted at May 4th, 2006, http://attilachordash.wordpress.com/

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