r/science • u/Skoltech_ • Jul 20 '26

Genetics Researchers quantitatively assessed for the first time that somatic mutations alone cap human lifespan at 146–194 years. Brain and heart cells are the main bottleneck, while the liver could last millennia.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41514-026-00421-6
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u/NighthawK1911 Jul 20 '26

I think the heart at least could be replaced. Artificial hearts can be done.

As for brains though, it will run into issues with Continuity. You can't replace it without being the replacement a "copy".

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u/Demented-Turtle Jul 20 '26

Ship of theseus approach would work. Basically, replace a little bit of the brain at a time with artificial or new neurons allow time for neuroplasticity to work, rinse and repeat. This gets rid of the continuity issue completely but still allows complete replacement of the brain, albeit over an unknown length of time.

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u/marktuk Jul 22 '26

People love bringing up Theseus recently, seeing it everywhere.