Hey so you seem like you've been pretty stressed out lately so please feel free to ignore this message if you're not up for talking or whatever (hope you're feeling better)! Your TG genetics posts are always so cool and I was just wondering if you had any thoughts/theories about #DragonKaneki from a biological perspective? Do you think he's past the point of returning from this current form?
Hello and thank you for your concern!I haven’t written much about this before because it will take months to explain the entire details, but Ishida-sensei has been referencing cancer biology over and over again through his explanations of kagune, rc pathways, telomeres, and aging. If I ever have the time, I promise I will explain this in greater details.
Kaneki’s current form is due to a rapid expansion of RC cells (tumor-like formation)… this explains the gigantic transformation that is both uncontrollable and rapid. Cancer cells are immortal aka they will continue to divide infinitely as long as a source of nutrient and oxygen is available (leading to angiogenesis). Hence, because these cells continue to grow indefinitely, they will occupy a huge space and thus need to migrate/override other tissues (metastasis). This is what is happening in Kaneki’s body right now. He consumed most of the oggai children who were made from Rize (Rize’s kakuhou is suggested to have a special ability). This lead to him losing his human-like form, as his rc cells continue to divide and expand leading to his current monstrous shape.
I do think there must be a way for him to go back (huge supply of rc suppressants, depleting his ressouces - though this will be close to impossible because you cant evacuate all the population in time, etc..). I wonder how this will be handled by sensei. As for Kaneki to be able to consciously go back to his human-like form, I don’t think this is a possibility at this point.