Small & Smart

There is an understandable fear that in shrinking the human body we might lose part of our brain capacity. With a projected head size of about 6 x 4,5cm it’s an obvious concern. One of the possible solutions we’ve reported on in a previous post, is the outsourcing of some of our brain capacity to the www. Perhaps such drastic solutions are not necessary. Researcher Donald Platt, who has a professional interest in the possibilities of mammalian shrinking in preparation for space colonization, sees another path. Platt: “I feel the IGF1 pathway as well as growth hormone is a good place to start when thinking about smaller organisms. An important factor in maintaining viability is shrinking cell size not cell number. This, I believe, can help to maintain functionality for organs such as lungs and the brain at very small size. Research work has also shown an imprinted gene pathway that may define an organism size from the time it is an embryo. This pathway may be able to be modulated by zinc finger protein modification combined with RNAi techniques. I think a multiple gene pathway approach will be most successful.”

Most matter consists of empty space. If you could take away the empty space, all the subatomic particles in the seven billion people on earth would pack into a volume a little larger than a grain of rice. It may be how we design and re-arrange the vast nano-emptiness of our cells that will decide our future.