Becoming Bionic and Other Ways Science Is Making Us Super
SECTION 1 SUPER PARTS Wolverine can rebuild himself from a single drop of blood Ms Marvel can take a bullet and keep on ticking by reverting to her non superhero form Deadpool can slice off his hand and grow it back in no time This ability to regrow a body part that has been damaged or removed is called regeneration Humans can't regenerate an entire arm or leg like certain superheroes can but we can regrow part of our liver and the tip of a finger It's a start right That's certainly what the scientists who are exploring the possibilities of regeneration think Some superheroes who can't regenerate have a different super powerful resource at their disposal high tech prostheses Prostheses are artificial body parts and in the superhero world these replacements are usually super powered versions of biological parts When Blade had to bite off his hand to escape being chained up he's given a gun like attachment and later a cybernetic hand Then there's Aquaman's cybernetic golden harpoon which replaced his left hand after it was devoured by piranhas In the superhero world the word cybernetic basically means combining body and machine Cybernetic organism cyborg When it comes to real world prostheses we think most often of artificial arms and legs But there are many other kinds including artificial eyes ears noses teeth and heart valves Some of these prostheses may not have the full capability of a biological part but scientific advancements are making many replacements closer to the real thing and even going beyond what nature intended
950 to 710 BCE Made of leather and wood the Cairo toe is considered the earliest working prosthesis Attached to a female mummy discovered in a burial chamber outside Luxor Egypt the toe not only looks good but can also bend Timeline INVENTIVE PARTS FROM THE PAST Give Me a Hand We don't know when the very first prosthesis was made but we can assume it helped its wearer overcome the physical challenges and possible psychological issues such as depression and anxiety that can happen after someone loses a limb 1861 Eighteen year old James Hanger becomes the American Civil War's first amputee when he is hit in the leg by a cannonball just two days after enlisting Once back home he whittles an artificial leg out of slats of wood from a barrel then adds a hinged knee and ankle He goes on to create prostheses for other soldiers and establishes an international prosthetic company that still exists today Circa 1820 The Anglesey leg is created by James Potts for the Marquess of Anglesey who lost a limb during the Battle of Waterloo Made from lime wood and leather this prosthetic leg has a hinged knee and ankle that use cat gut which is actually sheep intestine for tendons so they work together for better movement
300 BCE The Capua leg is found in a grave in Capua Italy This earliest known prosthetic leg is from the era when medical practitioners learned how to stop bleeding which makes amputation a less deadly treatment Unfortunately the bronze and wooden leg is accidentally destroyed by a bomb in the Second World War Circa 1920 As wounded soldiers come home from the First World War the need for artificial limbs skyrockets Veterans require new innovations so they can return to work The McKay heavy working arm features a lightweight hand with exchangeable attachments such as a hook chisel holder and hammer Circa 1550 Designed by a French military surgeon named Ambroise Paré and worn by an army captain le Petit Lorrain is a mechanical hand that uses catches and springs so the wearer can open and close his fingers Dr Paré begins making prostheses after learning that some amputee patients are taking their own lives He believes his devices will improve patients physical and mental well being He even shares his designs and instructions so others can make them too 2012 Scientists show just how far prostheses have come when they use twenty eight parts including arms legs a heart lungs eyes ears and an eerily lifelike face to create the world's first bionic man This robot can walk and talk and has pumping blood He's still missing a few key parts such as a stomach and a liver but he's proof that about two thirds of the human body can be replaced And at 1 million this bionic man costs a fraction of what it took to rebuild Colonel Steve Austin in the 1970s TV show The Six Million Dollar Man
