The Beginning is the End

[Taem]

So in a previous thread, I was pestering Jester about the morality of cloning - that tangent of mine was overdrawn, my bad - when I felt some interesting concepts came out of that. One of them had to do with organ growing. Well as it turns out, that is now a reality and we are on the cusp of a new era:

Unlocking a Cells Destiny

Press Release

I'm so proud UCSB figured it out first. It's usually UCLA who outdoes us in the medical field, so this is quite the discovery. The tests are a breakthrough for sure, but have only been tested on worms so far, but the proof of concept is there and now it's only a matter of time. Who knows, maybe in a decade or so, loosing a vital organ to cancer will be a worry of the past? Truly incredible day and age we live in.

[shoju]

SOON I will be the oldest living man ever.

[kandrathe]

I'm so proud UCSB figured it out first.

In that field, everyone is standing on somebody's shoulders. It's been a raging fire of biochemical learning for at least 25 year, and there is no shortage of molecular mysteries that need more research. Check out; http://www.plosbiology.org


I've been reading for awhile about reversing cells back into stem cells and rejection free growing organs (or spinal cords, or other repair tissues), either within the person, or using their stem cells in a chimeric host (such as a pig).

We are currently able to transplant, limbs, faces, organs, etc. with the use of anti-rejection therapy, but that is a huge downside. Imagine what we would do if we regularly grow the required tissue within the host, or in a chimera animal. And, this is the danger of the abuse of human cloning. What would be more convenient than having an exact copy of you grown for spare parts, whenever you'd need them.

[Occhidiangela]

I was a boy when the first successful heart transplant went down.

I'd like to see the first successful spine transplant, complete with recovering someone from paralysis due to spine injury.

That would be nice.