Overview

Our bodies regenerate at a remarkable rate – our skin replaces itself every month, our blood every four. You can remove ninety per cent of a liver and it’ll still grow back to its original size (please do not try this at home). Others – the brain, the heart, the eyes – are more complicated. These stay with us for life. So what do we do when they break down? For centuries, medicine has searched for answers – sculpting noses from brass, borrowing skin from frogs and hearts from pigs and crafting eye parts from jet canopies. And as technology has grown ever more ingenious, so have our solutions. In Replaceable You, Mary Roach sets sail on the uncharted waters of regenerative medicine, exploring the remarkable advances and difficult questions prompted by the human body’s failings. When and how does a person decide they’d be better off with a prosthetic than their existing limb? Is there a sensitive way to harvest tissue and bones from the deceased? Which animals might be the best organ donors? Through interviews with patients, physicians, pathologists, engineers and scientists, Roach immerses readers in the wondrous, improbable and surreal quest to build a new you.

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9781836431558

Table of Contents

Reviews

'We are all replaceable to some degree or another... with the exception of Mary Roach. There is no one and nothing like her – singular, bizarre, dedicated, passionate, fascinating. Her writing traffics at the unusual intersection of science, storytelling and humor. That is a very tricky intersection to navigate, and no one does it as masterfully or consistently as she. I devour everything she writes.' —Jason Alexander 'Mary Roach has had a more direct impact on my career than any other writer. She is her own genre of book – gonzo, hilarious, wildly educational. This is Roach at her finest.' —Daniel Kraus, author of Whale Fall 'In her brilliant (and brilliantly funny book) Replaceable You, Mary Roach explores the puzzle of the human body, the way we can assemble and reassemble the very human pieces into different versions of who we are and how we work. The result is intriguing, compassionate, wise and – as with all her books – addictively readable. Or to put this another way: Don't miss it.' —Deborah Blum, bestselling author of The Poisoner’s Handbook 'Mary Roach offers a fascinating tour of the wonderful world of regenerative medicine.' —TIME, The Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2025

'We are all replaceable to some degree or another... with the exception of Mary Roach. There is no one and nothing like her – singular, bizarre, dedicated, passionate, fascinating. Her writing traffics at the unusual intersection of science, storytelling and humor. That is a very tricky intersection to navigate, and no one does it as masterfully or consistently as she. I devour everything she writes.' —Jason Alexander 'Mary Roach has had a more direct impact on my career than any other writer. She is her own genre of book – gonzo, hilarious, wildly educational. This is Roach at her finest.' —Daniel Kraus, author of Whale Fall 'In her brilliant (and brilliantly funny book) Replaceable You, Mary Roach explores the puzzle of the human body, the way we can assemble and reassemble the very human pieces into different versions of who we are and how we work. The result is intriguing, compassionate, wise and – as with all her books – addictively readable. Or to put this another way: Don't miss it.' —Deborah Blum, bestselling author of The Poisoner’s Handbook

'Mary Roach offers a fascinating tour of the wonderful world of regenerative medicine.' —TIME, The Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2025 'Mary Roach has had a more direct impact on my career than any other writer. She is her own genre of book – gonzo, hilarious, wildly educational. This is Roach at her finest.' —Daniel Kraus, author of Whale Fall 'Full of engaging accounts of scientific advances in the field of the human body. It's a frightening portrait of the gruesome experiments people are prepared to undergo in the pursuit of becoming more attractive... Roach is an intrepid reporter and adept at explaining complicated procedures clearly.' —The Times 'Mary Roach leaves no stone unturned in her quest to explore the limits of regenerative medicine. The seasoned science writer has mastered the art of explaining complex topics in a way that is digestible for the reader, with a healthy dose of characteristic humour... This is a book that makes you feel clever while also making you laugh.' —Daily Mirror 'We are all replaceable to some degree or another... with the exception of Mary Roach. There is no one and nothing like her – singular, bizarre, dedicated, passionate, fascinating. Her writing traffics at the unusual intersection of science, storytelling and humor. That is a very tricky intersection to navigate, and no one does it as masterfully or consistently as she. I devour everything she writes.' —Jason Alexander 'In her brilliant (and brilliantly funny book) Replaceable You, Mary Roach explores the puzzle of the human body, the way we can assemble and reassemble the very human pieces into different versions of who we are and how we work. The result is intriguing, compassionate, wise and – as with all her books – addictively readable. Or to put this another way: Don't miss it.' —Deborah Blum, bestselling author of The Poisoner’s Handbook

Author Information

Mary Roach is the author of seven best-selling works of nonfiction, including Grunt, Gulp, Stiff, and, most recently, Animal, Vegetable, Criminal. Her writing has appeared in the Guardian, Wired, GQ, Vogue, National Geographic and more. She lives in California.

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