Here Comes the Six Billion Dollar Man
April 23, 2008
Television produced the world’s first bionic man from a wounded, barely-living test pilot into a “better, stronger, faster” Six Million Dollar Man. Reality it seems has managed to produce at least a part of such science fiction. In the symposium on the “Six Billion Dollar (Hu)Man”, which is a part of the scientific program of the American Association of Anatomists, the fact that bionic implants can actually mimic the original function, sometimes even surpassing the power of the original organ or other body part comes to the fore.
Bionics replaces or enhances anatomical structure or physiological processes with electrical or mechanical components. It takes place at the interface between bioengineering and anatomy. The possibility of using tissue engineering as a means of replacing organs or organ function has also been floated. Whichever way, it is not surprising if the title is a direct allusion to the cost of achieving at least one bionic or partly bionic man.
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