Editor's Blog
A revolution in medicine is occurring as stem cell research jumps out of the embryonic stage. Startling advances in recent months are reported from multiple nations:
China: Stem cells help autistic, epileptic girl (February)
United Kingdom: Stem cells enable boy to receive a windpipe transplant (March)
USA: Man cured of HIV after stem cell therapy (April)
Israel: Progress in mass-production of stem cells (May)
Japan: Stem cells repair heart attack damage (May)
United Kingdom: Multiple sclerosis halted by stem cells (May)
USA: Stanford stem cells may cure hearing loss (May)
Italy: 82 blind people have their eyesight restored via stem cells (June)
Germany: 50% of patients with lymphocytic leukemia are cured with stem cells (July )
India: Glioblastomas tumors linked to stem cell activity (July)
United Kingdom: New approach revealed for treating heart attacks with stem cell therapy (July)
Australia: Scientists uncover link between stem cell mutation and breast and colon cancer ((July)
USA: Breakthrough announced on stem cell therapy success with Parkinson’s Disease (July)
India: Dr. J. Parthasarathy predicts cancer will be tamed in 10 years by stem cells (July)
Additional predictions are that stem cell therapy will:
Regenerate hearts in 5 years
Eliminate diabetes in 10 years
Regenerate almost all organs in 20 years
Attaining immortality is looking easier. Living 150 years seems conservative, and surely the Singularity will emerge in that span to boost us all into eternity. Medical news seems so optimistic, maybe even the caloric restriction crowd will start eating donuts.
Celebrate! Backup organs for meatbags is on the way!
reference: http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/2006report/
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3 Comments
I’ve been discussing this rather extensively myself, especially in this thread over at IEET
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/bhargava20100720/
In fact, based on some of those same reports, I just made a bet that directed stemcell technologies will enable full male to female, and male to female transgendered surgeries, using bioprinters or scaffolding techniques to create the needed organs from the patients own stemcells to enable full reproductive ability, would likely be available by 2020.
You neglected to mention how many stem cell souls were murdered to help these afflicted people. Furthermore, exploiting pluripotent cells to forestall the natural cycles of disease and death impinges on human dignity.
Ba-zing!
Ice, that’s…wrong. You’re channeling billions of years of evolutionary power into entertainment. And why? You’re not really gaining anything from it. If its not eternal, such as life is, than its not worth it, and the enclosing darkness of mortality will remind you of it.
Joe, life is defined by potential. A stem cell taken from a human embryo is vandalized life, wasted on some old sage’s knowledge. Its a human being savagely and selfishly sacrificed on an altar, a cross between Egyptian immortality and Mayan suicide. Technical terms won’t make you sound smarter, just more vulgar, in this context.
This revolution could quite easily, in fact, far more easily, take advantage of embryonic cells derived from mature skin cells. And why not? Can’t hurt anyone. Of course, the Intelligentsia driving this movement would have to admit their flaws….which sadly, is not likely. Really, all those fools turning up their nose saying “well, we don’t know what the differences will be” don’t realize that its just as likely to work better as it is to work worse. And remember, you owe a debt to your parents. Pay it to your children.
“The ultimate moral test for a generation is the world they leave for their children.” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Whatever murder may benefit the gluttonous parents, the life lost is still a life lost, and these stains don’t wash away.