Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2018 August 31

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August 31

Oldest functioning human body parts

I saw this article from 2008 about a 123-year-old human male cornea which is still functioning: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-norway-eye/transplanted-cornea-in-use-for-record-123-years-idUSTRE49M6BL20081023 . In turn, this got me thinking--have there been any human body parts which survived and functioned for a longer time period than this cornea?

I mean, the record for verified human longevity is 122 for women (Jeanne Calment) and 116 for men (Jiroemon Kimura), but this 123-year-old male cornea beats both of these records. Now, the question is whether there are any human body parts which have survived and functioned for a longer time period than this cornea did. Futurist110 (talk) 22:23, 31 August 2018 (UTC)

This is not what you're asking for, but you may be interested in HeLa as it is very closely related. Matt Deres (talk) 22:31, 31 August 2018 (UTC)

Yes, I know about HeLa and those cells are certainly extremely interesting given how much they've helped to advance scientific research over the years. Futurist110 (talk) 22:33, 31 August 2018 (UTC)

You don't mean "surviving", do you? You mean functioning? Otherwise, there are still parts of this "human" body that are only about 315,000 years old? Martinevans123 (talk) 22:47, 31 August 2018 (UTC)

Yes, I mean functioning. Basically, I mean body parts that are still alive/living. Futurist110 (talk) 23:10, 31 August 2018 (UTC)

Don't quote me on the exact details, but during the Second World War a lady died and some of her tissue was retained and cultured to investigate the pathology. These cells remain active today and much useful research is conducted using them, cultures having been transported to many laboratories. 195.147.104.148 (talk) 09:55, 1 September 2018 (UTC)

That's HeLa, already mentioned above. Abductive (reasoning) 12:11, 1 September 2018 (UTC)

Yep. Interestingly enough, I had to read Rebecca Skloot's book about Henrietta Lacks for one of my classes. It was certainly a very interesting read. Futurist110 (talk) 00:50, 2 September 2018 (UTC)

I just checked and this Rebecca Skloot book even has its own Wikipedia article: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Futurist110 (talk) 00:51, 2 September 2018 (UTC)