tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Oct 23 12:24:43 1999
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: Eternal Life...
"William H. Martin" wrote:
>
> On Tue, 19 Oct 1999 18:16:32 -0700 Ben Gibson
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > jIHagh. nuqDaq 'oH "National Bank" cha'DIch? tera' DIS
> > wa'mah Hut javmah jav "Germany"Daq "Kentucky"Daq je' jIyIn.
> > ret "church of Chirst" jIH 'ach DaH "pagan" jIH.
>
> ngem DatIv'a'?
tlhab jItIv. HewIj jitu’mo’ jItIv. DIvI’ lalDan vivoqHa’.
toy’wI’’a’ muchenmoHjaj. toy’wI’’a’ Hoch chenmoHjaj.
> > HoHpu'mo' Suvwi" Hegh luplaH' pagh. vaj ghe''torDaq SuvwI'
> > Hegh Dalup. Qu'Daj Dalbe'.
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> tlha'Ha'chuq mu'meylIj.
De’wI’wIj ngej veqlargh. that should be “Dalbe’ Qu’Daj”
> chaq HeghDujDaq Qun HoH. narghlaHbe'. quvHa'be'mo' ghe'tor
> 'ellaHbe'. HeghDujvo' tlheDlaHbe'. pa' DallaHbej ghu'. Qu' poQ.
> Hegh quvHa' lupqang. qay'be'.
“Qun” jIyaj’be’. When I figure out what these mean then I
can address this.
> > to' qab. "martyrs DachenmoHchugh nen. DaHagh QaQ law DaHoH
> > QaQ puS.
>
> nuqjatlh?
>
> nIv to'. qoHpu' SaHbe'lu'. ram. yIHoH. jIHaghchugh neH vaj
> ghaytan ngaghchuq qoHpu' 'ej ghur mI'chaj. vIHoHchugh Segh vIDub.
jIQoch. TIq HoS ghaj qoHpu’vam. qech bISuv. loD bISuvbe’qu’.
loD DaHoHchugh quech DaHoHbe’. loD DaHoHchugh HoS qech.
“martyr” ‘Iwchaj Sop lalDan qechmey.
qech HoS law loD HoS puS. qech HoS law Segh HoS puS. yabchaj
DachoHchugh porghchaj mutlha’
> > Hija'. vIbupchugh, bIluj 'ej' bIHegh. vaj bISuvtah.
>
> If you quit, I lose and I die? Sounds like a raw deal to me.
Should be “Dabupchugh bIlug ‘ej’ bIHegh
>
> > (But this may not be true for many more years. Recent
> > advances in medicine may find a way of preventing even
> > Heghna')
>
> 'e' lunaj Qelpu'. not qaS. reH QaplaH Hegh.
Again jIQoch. I can’t explain in tlhIngan Hol yet. Maybe
later.
Medical science tells us that there are several factors to
aging. One of which is called a telamer. (I probably have
that misspelled) It is a protein cap on the ends of
chromosomes. Every time a cell divides, the telemer gets
shorter and shorter. After enough divisions, the chromosome
unravels and the cell is no longer able to manufacture the
different enzymes it needs to live. The cell dies after a
set number of divisions, determined by the length of these
telemers.
There is also an enzyme called ‘telemerase’. What this does
it build end caps for chromosomes, make them longer. So you
can readily see that if you can control the rate of repair
to the telemers, then the cell can go on living forever. (Of
course assuming no accidents or other catastrophes).
There is also something called a “suicide gene” that has
been discovered, which also triggers cell death. I am not as
familiar with this aspect of the research. What I do
understand is that in cancer, what you have is the failure
of this gene as well as the production of telemerase that
keeps the cells reproducing, long after it should have died
out. Cancer appears to be a ‘jumpering out’ of some key
genes that the cells hold to prevent just such an
occurrence.
The Human Genome Project is scheduled to be completed
shortly after the turn of the millennia. (I have heard they
are running ahead of schedule). Once that is done, all the
genes for not only enzyme production but also control of
that production will be mapped out. Add to this mix the
research on retroviruses. (These are not viruses that dress
like it was the 1960’s, but viruses that have the ability to
rewrite the DNA of their host), and you can see that how
that can be applied to the problems of aging and death.
After the Genome project is completed, I can see several
major advances in medicine happening not long afterwards.
Perhaps not in my lifetime, but within the grasps of my kids
or grandkids. No more genetic defects. No more diabetes. If
your Islets of Langerhang (sp?) shut down, we will be able
to regrow new ones inside your pancreas without surgery. You
lose an arm? It may be possible to grow a new one, using the
same enzymes that were used while you were still a fetus.
Spinal cord injury? That won’t be a problem either. In fact,
studies of fetal changes will give us an amazing amount of
medical technology, making surgery all but obsolete for
anything except trauma.
(Heck, suppose you want to grow a tail or a bumpy forehead.
With the proper coding of the genes of an engineered
retrovirus, you could literally redesign yourself.)
And there is that last hurdle, death itself. Think about how
many cells in your body die out every day, to be replaced by
new cells. If this occurs all the time, what stops us from
living forever? Once you answer that question, then it
becomes an engineering challenge to work out a solution.
Once the Human Genome project is completed, there will be a
wealth of data in order to answer just those questions, find
those solutions and make practical immortality commercially
possible. At that point it only becomes a matter of prudence
as to whether you enjoy eternal, yet physical, life. Or get
yourself killed doing something stupid.
Again, probably not in your or my lifetime. But it won’t be
long. Within the next 100 years.
Ben (DraQoS)