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I know in the 40k humans live for 100+ years due to juvat drugs and treatments. How do they work? I know they have to consist of more than plastic surgery and drugs,
espeically for those in the inquistion. When their muscles, bones, organs are worn beyond repair are they replaced?

Some of it probably is gene therapy, like injecting stem cells into old tissue to rejuvenate it. The imperium seems to make some use of cloning body parts so hearts etc could be replaced by vat grown ones using the person's own DNA. If you allow yourself to become too old (physically) before attempting treatment it doesn't seem to work. I guess at that point people turn to augmetics.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
So no, they don't try to replace muscles etc when they're worn beyond repair, they do the treatments before that happens.

IF there was a drug that altered programmed cell death (the process that causes aging as well as several other factors) to remain at a constant level then your age would be essentially frozen and thus you could live until killed.

I wonder if the vat grown organ are grown in a medium or are cloned?

"IF there was a drug that altered programmed cell death "
Thats kinda what cancer does!

Cocaloch wrote:"IF there was a drug that altered programmed cell death "
Thats kinda what cancer does!

Ninja'd!

Your muscles and bone never really wear out- hormonal changes in your body cause them to change their chemistry, and degrade. If your body wasn't sending out it 'ok, time to wrap things up' hormonal signal, then the degradation of muscle power and bone integrity would be a non-factor. This is the goal of a lot of research competing for the Methuselah project, it is pretty interesting stuff.

Libertarian transhumanists are essentially modern day juvat proponents. If you are rich or important enough, they claim you should have access to radical life extension technologies. Interestingly enough, the technology isn't really that far out there. It requires a method of controlling hormone levels, and avoiding negative effects caused by radiation and other ionizing sources. Neither of these two problems are really insurmountable (although one of them may require being FLAYED ALIVE and then reskinned) but due to the philosophical and financial interests of most of the engines of medical research- radically expanding the lifespans of the rich and famous isn't really on the front burner.

I imagine in 40k it is a similar situation, but with the cultural mores reversed. Interestingly, radical life extension poses far more serious problem to our morality than our scientific abilities.