This is an antagonist, correct? So it would bind to those receptors instead, which would then actually reduce the pleasure received from using the drug, right? Hmm, maybe if it were possible there could be something like a competitive inhibitor that starts working once a certain limit is reached, say 60 mg or something for diazepam, to physically stop the person from over-dosing but give them enough change to enjoy it. Not sure how to deal with tolerance, though.
I was thinking more on a social level: cigarette packages, for instance, with their graphic pictures. Legalisation of recreational drugs allows for regulation of the marketing and contents, so they could have some similar warnings. I mean, I had no idea diazepam was like that. It’s not on the packages and the GPs don’t tell you about it, so just more awareness. But yeah, it might not be that significant a change in the sense that it is usually only effective on the minority of users who use merely out of ill-informed curiosity.
Looked this up. IT’S A WONDERFUL IDEA. Instead of the cliche VR/MR headsets in the bar they could have these instead. It looks like it’s sort of possible now so it might be in use then. A new opiate of the masses.
But there are so many types of specialised cells in any given organ. For the brain regeneration part, for Alzheimer’s in particular the treatments would most likely be focused on regenerating the hippocampus, so it’s a much narrower field of work. Whole brain regeneration, as MC will find out, is quite shaky. The same would go for growing organs - getting a group of cells to differentiate properly and then making sure they can work together would probably require quite a profound understanding of epigenetics, cell signalling, biochemistry, and might take more time and effort than even the bioindustrial revolution provided. The biotech is actually meant to be more varied than deep (and with more of a focus on mimicking nature, though I haven’t been able to get there yet), but deep enough that in each little niche there’s a sense that many novel things have been achieved.
hmm just more awareness won’t solve the problem of addiction, because the addiction is caused by the drug (not because the choice of the user). for example alcohol and cigarettes, they’re mildly addictive substances, and education alone don’t solve the addiction problems without a strict regulation (at least in my country). like people knew cigarettes poison you alive but they still smoke (and in public! near children!!!).
digital drugs maybe would mimic their effects (pain relief, sedation, excitement) but without causing permanent changes and/or damage to the body because it’s d i g i t a l
hmm but what about using stem cells or animal-to-human transplantation?
Well, I don’t know. Smoking rates have been declining in many developed countries, and a case could be made that increased public awareness has played a role in that. It won’t solve it, of course, but better than keeping it illegal and unregulated.
Still with stem cells, you would need an understanding of how cells specialise and to make sure such specialisation occurs properly, to create the environment that allows them to do that. Both stem cell organ-growing and animal-to-human transplantation as they stand still require a lot more work to be able to use, but maybe in the story’s setting it might be feasible to some degree. Maybe in controlled, specific ways, rather than a mass-available thing? In the story there is research being done on using plant materials like wood for bones and vascular tissue for hearts (since I don’t believe there would be as many rejection or incorporation issues?), so I’ll probably also give sc/animal-to-human transplants a mention or two. The organ trade is a semi-major part of the story, so I’m trying to avoid making a mess of the logic but thanks for bringing it up.
i guess it makes sense. or since the anti-aging thing seems to be intended more for cosmetic purposes than medical, you could say that people don’t realize the problems it would cause, such as increasing organ demands.
can i guess, though? will there be human/clone farm for organ harvesting?
Nope, sorry to disappoint. It’s a bit more mundane and criminal than that. There won’t be therapeutic cloning to that extent because it’d probably be unlikely even then, considering the commercial, legal, and ethical issues involved and that other methods could be used that are more trustworthy and less costly. But you can of course headcanon it.