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Why is the human body so crap except for the liver?
Hraness wrote this summary from a saved copy of the source. Quotations are taken word for word from the source.
gist
dynomight argues many “bad designs” in human biology—short telomeres, weak regeneration, fragile kidneys—are anti-cancer tradeoffs, while the liver regenerates because it must survive constant detox damage and therefore pays a cancer tax. The piece surveys counterexamples (skin, gut, whales) and treats the unifying story as speculative, not settled biology.
ideas
- Most fragility is a cancer bargain. Limiting growth, repair, and telomere reset slows tumors at the cost of aging and poor injury recovery.
- Telomere shortening is intentional. Cells can make telomerase after development but mostly do not, so runaway clones often hit a replication wall.
- The liver is the exception that proves the job. Downstream of the gut and tasked with self-damaging detox, it must regenerate and accepts higher cancer risk.
- Counterexamples complicate the story. Skin and small intestine regenerate with relatively manageable cancer rates; menopause needs separate social explanations.
- Even without a tumor, cancer shapes the body. Costly preventative designs remain if medicine someday abolishes clinical cancer.
quotes
“why is the entire body such garbage except for the liver?”
“The human body is so crap except for the liver because cancer.”
“Having telomeres that wear down is good, because it slows down cancer.”
“Screw cancer.”