Douglas_Knight comments on Plastination is maturing and needs funding, says Hanson - Less Wrong

70 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 20 June 2012 08:00PM

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Comment author: Douglas_Knight 18 June 2012 09:32:43PM *  10 points [-]

No, I'm not sure. But I'm not talking about the limits of current read-out techniques, which will of course improve. I'm talking about the destruction of information by the process of plastination: chemical change of the membrane and replacement of almost everything else. Currently what is read is the shape of the membrane. The location, if not type, of an ion channel is probably readable from distortions of the membrame. They might be left intact, trapped by the membrane, readable by future techniques. But I wouldn't be terribly surprised if they are completely wiped out.

Most likely, we don't need to know, but can guess based on other details of the synapse.