Biology and Kandra

[Stormgate]

I'm taking college biology, and I've noticed some interesting things, specifically relating to kandra.

First of all, bones are not stagnant. They're constantly being repaired and broken down. When the body dies, eventually the bones will dry out and be utterly useless. Bones are just cells like everything else. SO, why can't kandra make bones?

Then there's hair. Kandra can't make hair, they have to get it from humans. Hair is made of the same substance as nails, but no mention is made of kandra having nail problems. 

I'm just confused about why this is.

On the other hand, since kandra can make cartilage (ears and nose), they could theoretically turn into a shark with nothing but more material, as sharks have no bones. Maybe a toothless shark, but a shark. 
 

Thoughts? Other interesting applications and implications of kandra biology?

[Calderis]

It's not just hair. They can't make nails either. I'd be very surprised if they can make cartilage. 

Kandra can basically only make soft tissues. The most sturdy thing they're explicitly said to be able to make is tendon. 

[TheGirlWhoLookedUp]

I’ve always wondered about their teeth. Do the ones with crystal or metal bones go around with teeth to match? Seems a pretty obvious way to spot if a Kandra’s impersonating someone.

Maybe they just stick normal teeth into the crystal skulls.

[WhiteEmporer]

9 hours ago, Calderis said:

It's not just hair. They can't make nails either. I'd be very surprised if they can make cartilage. 

Kandra can basically only make soft tissues. The most sturdy thing they're explicitly said to be able to make is tendon. 

I think it might be more accurate to say that they are soft tissue, and can shape and transform it. That's why they can't make hard tissue or dead cells (hair and nails)

[+Invocation]

10 hours ago, TheGirlWhoLookedUp said:

I’ve always wondered about their teeth. Do the ones with crystal or metal bones go around with teeth to match? Seems a pretty obvious way to spot if a Kandra’s impersonating someone.

Maybe they just stick normal teeth into the crystal skulls.

If the kandra has a True Body, they're not outside the Homeland in Era 1, so it's not really an issue there. In Era 2, they probably just paint over it or have a covering designed to look like teeth made.

10 hours ago, WhiteEmporer said:

I think it might be more accurate to say that they are soft tissue, and can shape and transform it. That's why they can't make hard tissue or dead cells (hair and nails)

That is probably more accurate, yes, considering that without their bones they're just muscle that gets dissolved and turned into other tissues as needed.

[cometaryorbit]

On 3/9/2019 at 0:51 PM, WhiteEmporer said:

I think it might be more accurate to say that they are soft tissue, and can shape and transform it. That's why they can't make hard tissue or dead cells (hair and nails)

...but hair is live cells before it becomes dead ones. (Bones are more complex, since they have significant mineral components. But they're still ultimately grown by cells.)

I don't think there is any workable "real world biology" explanation for Kandra limitations. What we see them do in Era 1 can mostly be explained by them just having really re-configurable muscles, plus the ability to alter surface color/texture very precisely (like super-cuttlefish). Although bleeding is an issue, you'd have to assume kandra blood was the same color and odor as human.

But in Era 2, it's clear they have far more subtle control of cellular-level stuff (the Kandra "death switch" we learn about in Shadows of Self, for example). If they can do that, they really ought to be able to do anything that biology can do (potentially anything that chemistry can do, barring stuff requiring really high temperatures).

Now, you could say that it takes so long to grow bones starting from stem cells that in practice they can't do it, though in theory they could. But hair really ought to be possible, given that TenSoon can eat and convert a horse in like an hour.