In a message dated 3/13/2001 4:46:13 PM Alaskan Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> My God. To say that this is an extreme solution is the understatement of
> the century. Prosthetic bone replacements aren't attached to the muscles
--
> they can't be, since the connective tissue cells that make up the ligaments
> blend in directly with the living bone cells. As surgeons are fond of
> pointing out, joint replacements are actually much more vulnerable to
> breakage than living bone because the latter is a living tissue that
> regularly repairs developing damage in itself. And I haven't heard of any
> compound anywhere on the horizon that could be used to strengthen
atrophying
> bone -- if there was, every woman with ostoporosis would be clamoring for
it
> right now. I don't see any practical way to completely replace even a
> single bone in the human body (unless you're Wolverine from "X-Men"). We
> simply have to keep bones from losing calcium in 0-g in the first place --
> and since exercise, from what I hear, doesn't seem to do the trick, unless
> and until we discover a really effective and safe anti-osteoporosis drug
> we're stuck with artificial gravity for long-duration spaceflight.
>
Robert Bradbury, of nanotechnology applications fame, might suggest somehow
using blood circulation nanomachines to do the trick.
-- JHB
==
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