Medtech 2180 a la Fulton

G'day guys,

You've probably put this one to bed already too, but here's my razoo's
worth anyway.

** WTF is a razoo?

Cloned replacement parts I can believe, cloned bodies with memory
implants
nope. The following points have a fair bit to do with this opinion,
yeah I
know we can't imagine the leaps we'll make (I'm a strong advocate of
that
claim), but somethings just don't gel.

They have already mapped an entire chromosome (complete DNA strand)
mind
you that's the shortest of the 25 or whatever it is humans have. They
have
bio-frames upon which to grow organs that work and we'll have clone
organs
within the next couple of decades probably, so organ even limb
transplants
by 2180 I can believe. However, ethcal issues aside, it would take 6+
years
to grow a human clone to adulthood safely - faster than that and
there's
mammoth tissue problems.

** You seem to believe there is nothing we can do to accelerate the
process while ameliorating the effects of tissue damage. I merely
suggest (not from expertise, merely from the wonderment of science and
progress) that such a technique or technology may evolve. That changes
the rules.

 But that clone won't have the skills to survive in
society that's why evolution has broken our growth at 4 and given us
an
extra 10+ years of slow physical growth so our brains can take
everything
in we need to be adults before kicking back in onto normal mammalian
growth
curve to finish us off to adult size.

** Again, I was sort of looking at the brainless or at least
virgin-brain style of clone... such that the brain's neural pathways
would be remapped to match that of the overlay being installed.

 There's also the issue of experience
making the man (so to speak), identical twins are clones, how many of
them
think exactly alike...none! Clones also recieve the cellular age of
the
individual their cloned from...

** Clone them at 20. If we have a high level of anagathic tech, we
could well have a clone soldier useful for 60 years... Make two or
three when a promising soldier is twenty, with all development of
muscles and such and brain pathways, make sure the mapping is
reasonably accurate, and cold sleep them. Then revive and overlay as
required. Periodic update periods would help lessen the transition
shock.

 Dolly is suffering hyper aging - she was
cloned from a middle aged sheep and her cells are aging as if they
started
from middle-age not from birth, accelerated aging on that scale isn't
something I'd look forward too! Add to that a lot of the things you'd
guess
are purely gene related aren't, handedness is actually related to the
amount of testosterone you recieve in uterine (in mum),

** Seems like if you could quantify enough of a human to build a
clone, you could control the development by matching parameters so it
came out like the one you were cloning from - this isn't purely
genetics, it might well include controlling in utero chemical
environment, and post uterine development as well. Not a trivial feat
perhaps. Perhaps even impossible. I just suspect we *might* be
surprised.

 for instance. As
for imprinting brains with captured memories, that's going to be VERY
difficult

** As a comparison, I don't think it would be any harder than
harnessing gravity. This is the pipe dream of physics and is a staple
of the GZGverse. Are the GZGverse bioscientists second rate? I think
not. If the phys geeks can solve FTL and gravity control, then I think
we should give the bioscience guys some magic too! ;)

 given we think they use quantum properties and no two brains are
exactly the same shape - you go trying to put my memories into Los and
they're not going to fit - you'd run out of room in the math area and
have
extra in the motor skills area = square peg, round hole!

** Assumes we can't control development at that level and that such a
level of detail is actually required. Keep in mind, you only use a
small chunk of your brain.... seems to me the overcapacity might let
you handle some of these differences, even if you allowed them during
growth.

 Brain-trasplants
are being discussed even now, but the patient ends up as a
quadriplegic as
you simply can't realign all those neuronal connections, though I
guess we
may get around that eventually.

** Sort of my point. Imagine what they were talking about in 1880 and
what we could do in 1980... I'll bet they would not even have come
close.... we're in the same boat. How many things thought impossible
would we have actually made easy? How many things they thought were
rules or laws of the way humans were put together have we broken and
ground into the dirt? A fair few.

Tom has a point, medicine will be streets ahead by then - nanites in
the
blood stream, cloned parts (if/when you get to a medi-point) will see
our
prospects increase (even with better weaponary I think the soldires
would
still end a little better off), but I doubt it'll get to the point
this
discussion did ;)

** Perhaps not, and again, it boils down to PSB. I started this as a
small point about recovery rates for wounded. It just kind of
mushroomed.... which makes it fun!

:) Tom