4 ms·
What method could possibly exist that would remove threads of plastic embedded in tissue? Sounds incredibly invasive no matter what i.e a no-go. Don't plan fo
by peteradio 4y ago
What method could possibly exist that would remove threads of plastic embedded in tissue? Sounds incredibly invasive no matter what i.e a no-go. Don't plan for this stuff to somehow magically remove itself, plan on ingesting small enough amounts in your lifetime to render it a non-issue. If modern life is making that impossible then demand a better modern existence. If that's not possible to make society change for the better (I have my doubts) then accept your fate nobody said life would be fair, perhaps take up religion.
- swores 4y agoIt's hard to say what methods will work, but it's not hard to imagine possibilities - a bacteria or virus (or even a nanobot someday?!) could be discovered / created that eats plastic but does no harm to a human body (or minimal harm that doesn't matter and can easily be removed/killed once it's got all the plastic) - see for example [1] & [2] different types of recently found plastic-eating bacteria for inspiration (the two bacteria types were found to eat different specific types of plastic, I'm not sure if they've tested each on all types of plastic or just published the first known). Or maybe we discover some sort of light/sound/other wave/something that, like an x-ray, has low enough health risks to be worth sometimes putting through humans, but that somehow does something to plastic that will let the body dispose of it all? Or maybe some drug gets created that somehow turns on some bodily function that can handle the plastic problem. Or.... I don't know, I'm no expert, but I bet there's more possibilities. Of course, would be good to do our best to reduce plastic use altogether anyway, for environmental as well as health reasons! [1] https://interestingengineering.com/science/bacteria-really-can-eat-plastic https://interestingengineering.com/science/bacteria-really-c... [2] https://www.livescience.com/plastic-eating-bacteria https://www.livescience.com/plastic-eating-bacteria
- kortex 4y agoEngineered antibodies or possibly mRNA vaccine, maybe. Monoclonal antibodies would likely be too expensive for use as a purely ameliorative measure. But if we figure out how to fold proteins on demand, then we can express a sequence and make it like other biologics. That's still a very expensive proposition, but at least it would have economies of scale. Avoidance is the best medicine for sure.
- eurasiantiger 4y agoRemember, Morgellon’s is a fictitious disease.
- donny2018 4y agoI’m not a biologist, but AFAIK just stopping new plastics inflow should be enough. The body continuously produces new cells to renew itself, including blood cells and what not, and this new material is plasticless. Don’t take new plastic, and in a few years you should be good.
- dmbche 4y agoThe problem is that the plastic is not removed. Kind of the same thing as people having shrapnel or bullets lodged in them for life - while your cells regenerate, the object remains and still interacts with you.
- donny2018 4y agoShrapnel or bullets are large objects and obviously the body can’t get rid of them. Nanoplastic circulates in the bloodstream which is continuously refreshed, or sits somewhere in the cells which are continuously disposed of. Some toxins or heavy metals can accumulate in bones, but I’m not sure if plastic can do that.
- jjtheblunt 4y ago> What method could possibly exist that would remove threads of plastic embedded in tissue? macrophages breaking their bonds? (I'm not sure...that's a question)