4 ms·

If this technology came with a feature to easily biopsy all the growths and tumors, and send them to a lab, do you think it would be beneficial then?

• toufka 12y ago
  There's a significant school of thought that the structure of biological material helps ensure it works properly, and that an otherwise benign feature might actually become more harmful when their local environment is disturbed (possibly, by a biopsy). Biopsies are a very useful tool, but you don't want to do lots and lots of them if you can help it.
  • rudolf0 12y ago
    I understand, but I think medical technology is inevitably moving in the direction of some degree of consistent self-testing and monitoring, and I expect small biopsies of suspicious masses will eventually be implemented in a way that causes almost no structural changes. I think this is how average lifespans are going to start rising dramatically in the next few centuries, but it's going to be a long and slow process.