Mary Roach’s New Book Replaceable You Explores Challenges in Replacing Body Parts

Rachel Feltman: For American scientist‘s Science quicklyI am Rachel Feltman.

Humans have been trying to replace the sick parts of our body for thousands of years, turning to the prosthetic limbs, the nose repelled, you call it. But creating something that works as well as our original equipment remains a huge challenge.

Here to guide us through the struggle to replace human heads, shoulders, knees and toes is the scientific writer Mary Roach, author of the new book You replaceable: adventures in human anatomy.

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Thank you very much for coming to discuss today.

Mary Roach: Oh, thank you, Rachel, for making me.

Feltman: So your books have explored everything, from the human intestine to the hunt for ghosts, scientifically speaking. What is your last?

Roach: You replaceable is an overview of the efforts to exchange, build, replace the bits of the human body. Part of the book is historic and a large part takes place in the present, it is therefore just incredible challenges, and also progress, but the right how complicated It is to try to create something that works as well as what we start.

Feltman: And what interested you on this subject?

Roach: I received an email from a woman who said: “I think your next book should concern professional football referees”, and I say to myself: “It’s a really strange choice for me, and I don’t look at football.” But we started a little corresponding, and she mentioned that she was amputated, in particular a elective Amputated, which means that she had an underperforming foot, and she suffered several surgeries and has still not been able to really walk on it in a way she felt that she wanted to do, and she used to see people walking with prostheses, running, hiking, and she is like: “I want it. Why isn’t someone cut my kick, does he not cut my foot, does he not cut my foot, does he not cut the foot [laughs]? Please cut my foot.

It made me think of the replacement parts, so it was the spark. Then, I served on the road through a few other possible chapters that I could cover, and I thought: “Okay, it’s the human body – it’s my kind of lawn.” I like to explore our body, the strange and wonderful and complicated machines they are.

Feltman: I would say it’s a pretty good story of inspiration [laughs]. But …

Roach: Weird, however. She is still after me to write a book on [laughs]- She is like: “Okay, NOW You can start this book on professional football referees [laughs]. “”

Feltman: [Laughs.] Maybe later.

Roach: Yeah, maybe next time, heh.

Feltman: What have you learned about this field? How has it changed in recent years and what types of things are possible at the moment?

Roach: Oh my God. Well, this is a question of 200 pages [laughs]. I guess I would say that the whole field moves both very quickly and, at the same time, incredibly slow. You know that you are looking at something like a hip replacement: the first was done in 1938, and there was this progress of changes and advances and improvements, and it has become something efficient and safety and commonly done, but it was a long road.

And, you know, and you are looking at things that take place now in regenerative medicine and in CRISPR, what was it – like 2012? I mean, we already see treatments getting out of it. And so things happen at dizzying speed, but you still know, you have the discovery. You work things. You go to clinical trials. It’s been 10 years, probably, before something is ready to be released, then you have to convince insurance companies. Anyway, so it’s a strange mixture of things that happen at a really incredible pace, but also, it’s just a long term, always.

Feltman: And could you give our listeners some examples of the types of parts that we are talking about replacement? Just some of your favorites because, as you said, it’s a 200-page question [laughs].

Roach: [Laughs.] Yeah, yeah. I started with it, with my nose because I – you know, the nose was the first thing that was largely replaced, in part because the nasal mutilation was one, going back to hundreds of years, a punishment. So it was both a punishment and a deterrence to hack someone’s nose because everyone can see it. So there was this need to rebuild the nose. Even going back up to 1,000 BC, there were people who had the idea that you could take a little forehead or cheek and that you could cut it, in a way to switch it on the nose, let it attach and rebuild a nose in this way, which is amazing.

It was therefore, that’s where it started, and now we are talking about trying to grow things from zero. I thought: “Because I don’t have a background on it, let’s start with something simple.” And there was a company, Stemson Therapeutics, which was trying to develop follicles using induced pluripotent stem cells. And it was both: “Wow, look at what they do” and also, “is that all you have?” [Laughs.]

They would therefore take, like the multi -sided stem cells induced by the shelf; They had found a way to teach them to become the two types of elements constituting a follicle. And they had these two types of cells, dermal taste bud cells and keratinocytes, and the cells would come together in a way and create a primitive follicle – like more than a blob, less than a follicle. He produced hair, RIGHT? He produced a hair material in hair, but he was under the skin; It didn’t come.

They are therefore like – they called it “disorganized hair”. And they look – they say, “We have to get it out of the skin. It must -“Wherever they put it, he would heal, like the skin, and then they say:” We need a little tube. “And so they forced these incredible engineers to create small tubes for the hair material to grow and get out of the skin, but the tubes, it turned out, they were too delicate to implantation, and how are they going to set up a follicle?

And then they were thread The two types of cells on a type of wire and letting them meet, then at some point, they would remove the wire. And it was incredibly complicated, and it worked and exciting – then they did not get enough funding, and they went bankrupt [laughs]. So it’s a bit of history.

No one grew up the organs of stem cells, whole organs; It’s always science fiction. But just create, like, small clusters and patches and – cells which, perhaps, you have people looking at diabetes and, potentially, for Parkinson cells, you could, then transform them into neural cells that produce dopamine or transform them into island cells that produce insulin. So you have this “primitive”, in quotes, but rather exciting things.

Feltman: Yeah. What excites you most in the future of some of the research you have covered in the book?

Roach: I will – I mean, I do not start in the way AI is used in all these things, but my meaning is that it will really speed up this work. This will make you faster to find molecules that work, faster – anything can be accelerated. And, and it makes me sad – the kind of cuts that go to basic research, it was really sad. The book was about to go into production when [the U.S. DOGE Service] Kider in, so you know, I had to call all the laboratories and say: “Are you always well? What’s going on?”

But that’s not what you are – you asked me what was exciting, not what is depressing [laughs]. Oh, that’s all: “We are only in this period of massive potential.” And then you dive, and you look at the challenges – it is simply very difficult to do something as well as the body does. But things evolve quickly.

Feltman: Your books always take you to such interesting places. Was there laboratories or other places in particular that really stayed to you?

Roach: I spent time in a pig without a pathogen designated in China where the pigs are raised for the xenotransplantation of organs. Just the idea of ​​a very clean [laughs]- “SuperClean” is the technical term – a Pigsty SuperClean was a little attractive, so I visited. I was not allowed to enter. I went to China, and I say to myself: “Oh, on the hill over there, that’s where they are, that’s where they are. So how do we get there? We are going …” And they say to each other: “Oh, we do not enter.” They are like: “You are a huge bunch of bacts –

Feltman: “”You are Too dirty ” [laughs].

Roach: “You are a dirty human. You are not approaching our pigs. ”

It was fascinating. I was able to see them in the control center; They have videos on all pigs. And so I arrived, I have to see them but not say hello in person. But it’s a kind of incredible – I mean, they had a dorm where workers stayed three months; They are quarantined. And then they stay there – they can’t leave. They are just them and the pigs. Pigs are tested for 40 different bacteria and viruses and fungi. Everything is disinfected every three days. Food is irradiated. I mean, it’s an incredible operation. And then you are looking on the screen, and, as, there is a pig taking a shit, and I say to myself: “Okay, it’s just a pig.” It’s one – I mean, you can’t train a pork to use toilets, so.

Feltman: [Laughs.]

Roach: [Laughs.] Presumably, this pig was really sterile and clean.

Feltman: It’s great. Thank you very much for coming to talk about the book. Do you want to remind people what’s the name?

Roach: Of course, it’s called You replaceable, And the subtitle is Adventures in human anatomy.

Feltman: That’s it for today’s episode. We will be back on Friday to find out how an experimental musician may have composed new pieces of Beyond the Grave.

Science quickly is produced by me, Rachel Feltman, with Fonda Mwangi and Jeff Delviscio. Shayna has and Aaron Shattuck checks our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to American scientist For new scientists up to date and in -depth.

For Scientific American, Here is Rachel Feltman. See you next time!