Is cellular memory real?

I think this is called cellular memory.. Lets say you get a liver transplant, and your donor was a chain smoker, will you have the urge to smoke too?

Comments

  • No, your cells do not have preferences they can only perform their function. So unless you also get the brain of the chain smoker there is nothing to worry about.

  • I think that bio guys answer about cells mainly remembering to perform their function sounds correct, but I barely passed high school biology =)

    other than some kind of a brain transplant, (which I dont think theyve done successfully with humans yet); the only other type of transplant that would seem to relate back to a former chain-smoker might be if they gave you a smoker's lungs, or something like that.

    for what its worth, I think I remember hearing some story a year ago about a young woman in the UK who got a lung transplant from a former smoker, and then died from lung cancer like a year later. Didnt say if she found herself having the urge to smoke or not. Scary thoughts!

  • I had a liver transplant and used to joke around since I'm a woman who had a male donor. I used to say that I now have the urge to scratch myself a lot and belch. Of course that is a joke. No, I still stayed myself with nothing added from the donor on that issue.

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