Where Are We At With Body (re)Building?
With Mary Roach, Author of “Replaceable You”
The human body is an exquisite, evolutionarily-engineered piece of machinery. Unfortunately, like all machines, bits often go BOING! (That’s the medical term.)
More fortunately, science has spent thousands of years coming up with ways to repair, replace or even build from scratch, nearly every part that can break down.
In this episode, we explore the evolution of human panel beating. From using the skin of puppies or fish as skin grafts, pig hearts instead of our own, transplanting hair from all over the body to, well, anywhere, and on anyone, else, and even creating new pieces like artificial limbs, arteries or genitals. Yes, apparently if someone gives you the middle finger, you can make a penis out of it. Actually you probably can’t, but some doctors can. Don’t try ANY of this at home.
Mary Roach began her career as a copy editor and public affairs writer. Along with numerous articles and guest editing positions, she is the author of eight New York Times bestsellers, including STIFF: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers; GULP: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, FUZZ: When Nature Breaks the Law and PACKING FOR MARS: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. Her new book, REPLACEABLE YOU: Adventures in Human Anatomy, will be available in Australia from February.
“The bodies are interesting, but it’s the people who study them that truly fascinate me.”
In 2009, Mary gave a TED-talk based on research for one of her books, “Bonk”. While the topic is a little adult in its nature, it has racked up nearly 43 million views, making it one of the most played talks in TED’s history.
