Re: Could a human survive on D2O?

["Dale E. Boyce" <dale@radpro.uchicago.edu>]

I haven't speculated in awhile, and knowing absolutely no direct experimental
data would throw my 2c$.

Switching to straight D2O would have the following initial effect.  Osmotic
pressure would tend to draw H2O out of cells, and at the same time D2O
would begin to diffuse into the cells.  if the switch were done abruptly
and the diffusion rate of D2O were slower than H2O, cells would tend
to dehydrate.

Just an off the cuff rationalization why symptoms of dehydration might
be plausible.

Dale Boyce

P.S. Remember exploding one celled animals with distilled water in
grade school?