• Question: will it be possible to have a skeleton of metal but with all the organs of a human inside

    Asked by denhamal08 to Pete, Rebecca, SallyB, Sally, Sian on 23 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Rebecca Randell

      Rebecca Randell answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Is this like the tin man in the wizard of oz? I don’t think this is possible and the skeleton might rust and poison your blood.

    • Photo: Peter Styring

      Peter Styring answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      There is no reason why not. Hip and knee joints are regularly replaced with for example titanium. The problem is rejection by the body.

    • Photo: Sally Barber

      Sally Barber answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      No I don’t think so. Bones are not just to give our body stucture and allow movement, they also produce cells to keep our bodies working. Inside bone is bone marrow, the bone marrow manufactures blood cells (white cells to help fight infection, red cells to carry oxygen around the body, and platelets to form clots when we cut ourselves), bone cells (to help break down old bone and make new bone) and endothelial cells (the cells that line our blood vessels, keeping our circulatory system working effectively). If our skeletons were made of metal we wouldn’t need to make new bone cells so that wouldn’t be a problem, but we would still need to make new blood and endothelial cells. Scientists would have to invent some sort of bone marrow substitute – I’m not sure that is possible.

    • Photo: Sally Fenton

      Sally Fenton answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Everything in our body is connected and our skeleton is like the frame for it which holds it all together…we may be able to do this…but the body would not be able to function. Aswell as acting as a frame…the bones in our body produce cells which are important for our immune system aswell as other things we need to survive. So whilst we could “make” a metal skeleton with the organs in it…it would not be a working body. It would also be very wierd! People do sometime have metal put into their bones sometimes to strengthen them if they have broken them…but a whole body of metal I dont think would be possible!

    • Photo: Sian Lawson

      Sian Lawson answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      We already have artificial (often metal) joints and even entire legs or arms. Entire skeletons are a little way off but should be possible one day.

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