Thought experiment: let’s say any and every component of the human body was transpantable (i.e. not just blood, kidney, liver).
Then if you transplanted a set of components X from a person of age 30 into a person of age 60, then the person’s resulting age should logically be somewhere between 30 and 60, skewed towards 60 if X is small (one drop of blood) and skewed towards 30 if X is large (everything except the brain).
Now the question is: how do you calculate the “weight” of the set X that controls the skew? Is it something simple like number of cells or mass? Are some components preferred, such as heart cells or kidney cells?
Also, importantly, does the quality of “age” diffuse and equilibriate throughout the body, (like temperature), such that after some equilibriation period the whole body will be the same age? Or if you transplant a 30-year-old heart into a 60-year-old, will you just get a 60-year-old with a younger heart?
I would say it depends on the range of influence the transplanted organ has on the rest of the body. A new set of eyes will have little influence beside their sensory function; a new esophagus will work mostly like the old one. More central organs will have bigger effects: a new liver will improve your fat and sugar metabolism; a new pancreas will be probably life-changing. A new, stronger heart may prevent ischemia in otherwise poorly-irrigated tissues, but will do little beyond that. A blood marrow transplant will essentially give you new blood, whose consequences will depend on the donor’s genetic traits. Since blood interacts with the entire body, a new set of kidneys will have huge repercussions.
Then if you transplanted a set of components X from a person of age 30 into a person of age 60, then the person’s resulting age should logically be somewhere between 30 and 60, skewed towards 60 if X is small (one drop of blood) and skewed towards 30 if X is large (everything except the brain).
No, you ignore the effect of the body fighting transplants because they have different DNA. The brain also learns to control different parts of the body when it’s young and when you change those parts of the body in a way that makes them react differently to neural impulses the body get’s less efficient.
body fighting transplants (hey, that’s close to being a contronym, how awesome is that)
Just to complete the set, there’s also the inverse: the transplant fighting the host (“graft-versus-host”). Imagine how confused you’d feel as a sentient leukocyte, grafted onto a different body.
Thought experiment: let’s say any and every component of the human body was transpantable (i.e. not just blood, kidney, liver).
Then if you transplanted a set of components X from a person of age 30 into a person of age 60, then the person’s resulting age should logically be somewhere between 30 and 60, skewed towards 60 if X is small (one drop of blood) and skewed towards 30 if X is large (everything except the brain).
Now the question is: how do you calculate the “weight” of the set X that controls the skew? Is it something simple like number of cells or mass? Are some components preferred, such as heart cells or kidney cells?
Also, importantly, does the quality of “age” diffuse and equilibriate throughout the body, (like temperature), such that after some equilibriation period the whole body will be the same age? Or if you transplant a 30-year-old heart into a 60-year-old, will you just get a 60-year-old with a younger heart?
I would say it depends on the range of influence the transplanted organ has on the rest of the body. A new set of eyes will have little influence beside their sensory function; a new esophagus will work mostly like the old one. More central organs will have bigger effects: a new liver will improve your fat and sugar metabolism; a new pancreas will be probably life-changing. A new, stronger heart may prevent ischemia in otherwise poorly-irrigated tissues, but will do little beyond that. A blood marrow transplant will essentially give you new blood, whose consequences will depend on the donor’s genetic traits. Since blood interacts with the entire body, a new set of kidneys will have huge repercussions.
No, you ignore the effect of the body fighting transplants because they have different DNA. The brain also learns to control different parts of the body when it’s young and when you change those parts of the body in a way that makes them react differently to neural impulses the body get’s less efficient.
Just to complete the set, there’s also the inverse: the transplant fighting the host (“graft-versus-host”). Imagine how confused you’d feel as a sentient leukocyte, grafted onto a different body.
ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉ Transplant hwaiting! ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉ