system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood] Could Edward still perform Alchemy after sacrificing his gate if he was prepared to use his own personal life force like had has on at least one previous occasion?

My understanding of personal gates is that it allows an individual access to the energy source they require to perform an actual transmutation, in line with the concept of equivalent exchange. Obviously he wouldn't do it lightly due to the great personal cost however if a situation serious enough arose could he tap into his remaining personal reserves to perform a transmutation if it was absolutely necessary?
gpt
As far as we know, no. Sacrificing your gate (like Edward did) means, as you said, losing your ability to access the energy to perform transmutations. It doesn't matter whether the energy involved is the energy of plate tectonics (as Amestrian alchemy uses), the 'dragon's pulse'/chi/energy flows of the world (as Xingese Alkahestry uses), or your own personal life force; the loss of your gate makes you lose the ability to manipulate any and all energies that might allow you to perform transmutations of any sort.

We see Edward try in the epilogue, when he tries to fix the roof. His mind and body still remember the equations and motions, but the loss of his gate means that his body can physically no longer connect to the energy flows needed to perform transmutations. Think of it like trying to turn on a computer; the computer could be built perfectly and fully functional, but if it's not plugged in, it's not going to turn on, because there's no connection between the physical body of the computer and the energy it needs to function.

So tl;dr: no, Edward's alchemic (and potential alkahestric) abilities are permanently gone after he trades his Gate away. Unless he somehow regains access to his Gate, he's not going to be doing any kind of transmutations ever again.