Woman gets stem cell-created windpipe transplant
  • dandan November 2008
    http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/11/19/windp...lant/index.html

    Cliff notes:

    1. Woman suffers collapsed lung, doctors build her a new windpipe to correct the problem.
    2. Windpipe is created using woman's stem cells + old trachea from another body.
    3. ?????
    4. Profit.

    I'm pretty excited about this. I don't want to see human cloning happen during my lifetime, but this has potential to drastically change the way we fight certain illnesses.

    -dan
  • redboneredbone November 2008
    Like lung cancer and other smoking related issues =D
  • dandan November 2008
    I was thinking more along the lines of genetic disorders, and other unpreventable causes. If you get lung cancer as a result of smoking 2 packs a day for 20 years, it's your own damn fault, imo.

    -dan
  • redboneredbone November 2008
    Yes but there is more money in tobacco, more people smoke than have genetic disorders.
  • NunesNunes November 2008
    QUOTE (dan @ Nov 19 2008, 04:57 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
    I don't want to see human cloning happen during my lifetime.


    I do. I'll already be alive then. Cloning would only effect the next generation after its introduction with a few exceptions, meanwhile we'd just get to see the experiment play out on a global scale. If only to sate my curiosity, I'd love to see cloning in my lifetime.

    And who cares if this helps smokers. It helps people. If they manage to solve all the problems associated with smoking maybe people will stop bitching about smokers. Or maybe it'll just turn into a campaign against unpleasant aromas...
  • redboneredbone November 2008
    I wonder what the difference between a cloned person and a natural twin would be.

    Maybe what they should do is clone two twins, then there could be four people that look exactly the same running amok in classrooms. Image how frustrating that would be for the parents.
  • NunesNunes November 2008
    QUOTE (redbone @ Nov 19 2008, 06:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
    I wonder what the difference between a cloned person and a natural twin would be.

    Maybe what they should do is clone two twins, then there could be four people that look exactly the same running amok in classrooms. Image how frustrating that would be for the parents.


    Natural twins, even identical twins, have variance between their genetic structure. A clone, if perfect, wouldn't. What I want to see is some Gattaca shit. I want schools-for-genetically-superior-people-who-will-rule-the-world-someday and schools-for-the-you-just-aren't-so-smart-are-you-kid? to pop up when I'm like 50, then I can watch as the kids from the latter school go on to have their legs elongated surgically, study every night of their lives, and manage to succeed in a world that had written them off decades ago.

    Wouldn't that be an awesome world to go out in?
  • Australian+WitchAustralian Witch November 2008
    QUOTE (redbone @ Nov 19 2008, 05:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
    Like lung cancer and other smoking related issues =D


    She had TB, but I don't think you were misreading the article. Just pointing that out.

    And if you're a heavy smoker, insurance likely wouldn't pay for this kind of expensive stuff if it were to become a more common procedure, the same as they wouldn't give a liver transplant to an alcoholic. If you weren't kind to your first set of parts, it's a waste to give you a new one.

    But all of that stuff aside, this is still really awesome.
  • BillBill November 2008
    QUOTE (Aussie Witch @ Nov 19 2008, 09:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
    She had TB, but I don't think you were misreading the article. Just pointing that out.

    And if you're a heavy smoker, insurance likely wouldn't pay for this kind of expensive stuff if it were to become a more common procedure, the same as they wouldn't give a liver transplant to an alcoholic. If you weren't kind to your first set of parts, it's a waste to give you a new one.

    But all of that stuff aside, this is still really awesome.



    I would also enjoy the shit out of wasting my third pair, if they'd let me.
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