Flatworms incarnated

“Experts at Nottingham University have been examining how two species of flatworms are able to regenerate themselves again and again – raising hopes that scientists could find ways of alleviating the effects of ageing in human cells. […]During the study 20,000 new and fully-formed flatworms were created from just one original worm by splitting it into tiny pieces.”  [Why flatworms may hold the secret to immortality]

I’m not going to raise the ethical question about lab animals again this time (see January entry).  I just wonder what 20,000 forced new incarnations of flatworms add to the world other than quantitatively proving the repeatability of this scientific experiment.  A related question is whether resuscitation is needed ‘in all cases and at all cost’ (cf. the Dutch royal prince Johan Friso recently ‘brought back’ to a life of coma after 25 minutes of cardiac arrest and almost an hour of RCR), or life support for that matter (cf. Ariel Sharon, since 2006).   

I ask myself what we would truly be contributing to the world by regenerating ourselves ad infinitum.  I would not consider myself, nor most other individuals, all that essential to our planet’s well-being.  And most of us have hard times trying to live happily while it lasts. Just forget about the ‘ever after’ bit; it is supposed to be a timeless state, and hence not part of this universe.

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