Looks like clinical trials have already started
Experiments using pigs genetically engineered for compatibility with the human immune system have raised hopes that cross-species transplantation could soon become an option for patients with diabetes and other currently incurable diseases. However, many scientific hurdles remain before the ultimate goal of inducing long-term tolerance of animal tissues and organs in human recipients…
“The potential benefits of successful xenotransplantation to large numbers of patients with very differing clinical conditions remain immense, fully warranting the current efforts being made to work towards its clinical introduction.”
“Advances…might allow the initiation of clinical trials of xenotransplantation, at least for cell or islet transplantation or for the use of a pig organ to ‘bridge’ a patient until a human organ is obtained,” Dr. Cooper and coauthors write.
Of course, once you surpass the scientific hurdles there are the political, ignorant and reactionary hurdles. All part of the All-American Olympics.
Pork to long pork. Makes sense. Since I haven’t even completely stopped eating pig due to their high intelligence, but have only reduced the amount I eat, I guess I can’t object to killing pigs for saving human lives.
Viruses, prions, and the like can be a potential nightmare when splicing DNA. It’s impossible to know the end effect of an altered genome. If the law was changed to make mandatory organ harvesting mandatory, it could solve some of the shortages. The organs will just rot or be incinerated.
Looks like evidence of what Bobbo might call an “idiomatic immune response”. That festering sore on the first of the guy’s several chins appears to be the beginnings of graft-vs-host disease. They’ve got to work on the HLA typing, I guess…
Can Dr. Who’s pig slaves be far behind?
I usually say this when discussing the most recent astronomy discoveries, BUT is this an area of human activities that while “possible” should just voluntarily be turned away from in order to invest in areas of greater return?
Old fat white industrialists are getting extreme life prolonging procedures while the little kiddies in slums are denied common vacinations, school lunches and such. Misalignment of priorities in my book.
5.
Agreed
Transplantation may be well and good, but I’m salivating over the prospect of medicinal bacon!
Bobbo, just because the guy in the picture looks like a fusion of William Shatner and Porky the Pig doesn’t mean that Old Fat White Industrialists are the only ones who will benefit from this technology. Plenty of young people of color need heart valves, pancreatic beta cells, livers, lungs, hearts, and much much more.
Sure, it may give David Crosby a few more years to impregnate (embriagiate?) a couple of more lesbians, but if that’s all I though tissue transplant was worth, I would not have signed up to be an organ donor or a bone marrow donor. Jeez, that guy already had his fun during the “Four-Way Street” era.
#8 – Right you are….
…also, this notion that on on a planet with 6 plus billion and so much wealth and resources, we need to turn all attention toward a few narrow avenues of research is absurd. It’s like the idiot notion that because children in Africa need food we should not be funding NASA. In fact, because children are starving we should be increasing NASA’s funding. Many of the food preservation techniques, not the least of which is tin foil, that have helped in the fight against starvation and poverty in Africa over the last 4 decades have come from NASA research.
If all this research did was cure diabetes and nothing else, then it is worth it… But it will do far more and may have even greater value when something unexpected happens.
8–Mr Mustard, if Isuggest “embrangle,” I hope you won’t call me names.
Not being a racist, I would say that blacks should be denied heart valves just as quickly as whites should be denied whole hearts UNTIL more pressing concerns for the general population are met.
I see very little meaning to life, but that which I would formulate would begin with providing our kiddies with the best opportunities for success and happiness that is legitimately available. The old should die and get out of the way.
I want a curly tail….
Faith in the unexpected while kiddies starve in Africa?
Haw, Haw – – – good one.
>>I see very little meaning to life
Well. OK then, Plato. There you have it.
And perhaps you missed one of my key points, that it’s not just OLD people who will derive benefit from this; it’s people of all colors and all ages. Or perhaps you think only Fat Old White Industrialists get leukemia? Or have congenital heart-valve defects?
I am in agreement with you in part though; I think it might be a great idea to siphon off a couple of hundred billion dollars every now and then from our worldwide warmongering and Halliburton stock welfare programs, and “provide our kiddies with the best opportunities for success and happiness that is legitimately available”. That includes the best medical technology and health care coverage.
13—OK-“The old and young, regardless of race or economic class, should just die and get out of the way instead of having a disproportionate share of societies resources wasted on them while more pressing and immediate needs of the general population are left wanting.”
I kinda like not interfering with Darwin’s plan for us all too. Why spend money on creating a class of genomes that need constant medical intervention. Just doesn’t make any sense? Why not go home to Jesus as soon as legitimately possible?
#2, why, oh why exactly should the law be changed to require organ harvesting? The government doesn’t own my body, whether I’m alive or dead.
>>The old and young, regardless of race or economic class,
>>should just die
Gosh, Bobbo, you’re dark. I guess you don’t have any kids, huh?
And I’ll bet you’re just wild about eugenics and ethnic cleansing. Why wait for nature to take its course? Let’s just build the Master Race today.
16—-Whatsa matta you Mr Mustard===attention span doesn’t cover the whole sentence? (smile! yes, a smile at you, not with you!)
Re my kiddie status, I’d be happy to share that except for your proclivity towards the ad hominem, so I will defer.
Yes, I do support “genetic choices” as long as they are made freely by the individuals involved. No governmental mandates. I plan to discuss that when the right thread comes up. Funny how outraged people will get when others are offered the right to choose how to live their own lives.
15–I used to be an organ donor until I found out how much money hospitals make on it and all to what end? So now my organs will rot with me as Darwin intended.
No Bobbo, I read the whole sentence. It’s just that it didn’t add anything more than the “The old and young, regardless of race or economic class, should just die ” part.
As to the “disproportionate share of societies resources wasted on them”, that’s just silly. How much of a “share of societies resources” do you suppose are “wasted” on xenotransplantation, compared with, say, Dumbya’s trophy war, or the Halliburton Welfare Program?
You’re depressing me, Bobbo. Have you ever had your DNA tested? If you become a bone marrow donor volunteer, you can have that done. Perhaps you should do that, and if it turns out you’re prone to any sort of condition that would require medical care, you can just off yourself and let Darwinism stand victorious.
>>So now my organs will rot with me as Darwin intended.
Jeez. And people wonder how creationists can drum up support for their cause. This is the kind of statement that gives the editors of “Intelligent Design Quarterly” wet dreams.
18-19–Resource distribution, its a bitch.
My favorite is that during the Irish Famine, Ireland exported food to England for their livestock.
So, inequities abound.
Never been tested, but I’m so healthy it hurts. Probably colors my views on quite a few things, like being impervious to illness. Its not true, but I feel that way.
Bobbo – Misalignment of priorities in my book.
Based on your comments in this thread, you need a new book.
21–Hey OFTLO, nice to have you pull my chain.
I think every kid in GOUSA should be fully immunized and get a school lunch before anybody gets a heart transplant.
I’m not saying heart transplants shouldn’t be done–I don’t really care as long as higher priorities are taken care of first. I sense you might say “we can do both”—but it doesn’t work out that way.
Whats wrong with that?
I really love this blog site. I don’t really care for the stories posted but I love the comments. You get to read great posts from people like Bobbo, BubbaRay, Lauren, Angel, Misanthropic Scott (he reads a lot of books), Mr. Fusion, Uncle Dave, Eideard, hhopper, and of course JCD. The stories can be quite diverse but all the stars seem to chime in. More proof that the Dunning-Kruger Effect is in effect!
23—Yes, but, but, but experts are too busy solving the worlds problems.
By the wayl, where is the proper repository of “political expertise?”
Still Kevin, very cold thing for you to do – – -make fun of and not contribute ((although you did)). I can see why someone slapped the “L” out of you.
>>Never been tested, but I’m so healthy it hurts.
Bobbo, Bobbo, Bobbo. It’s not what you’ve got today, it’s what you’re going to GET, next month, next year, 10 years from now.
Since you’re so big on “alignment of resources”, I’d think you would want to know what you’ve got coming, to determine whether or not your worth the investment. And if not, maybe try and track down Dr. Kevorkian. Rid the gene pool of those defects, you know.
#22 – Whats wrong with that?
Nothing. It just shows an amazing lack of understanding on your part. But this will degrade into a semantic bickering session with you re-explaining the same position over and over with different words, and in an usual twist of events, I actually have some work to do today.
So I’m going with “I’m right” and my reasoning is that it is self-evident. And it is. Now I’m done.
#23 – Kevin… What am I? I thought what we had was special!
You are off my fucking Xmas Card list you cold hearted bastard!
#27 – OFTLO Sorry, I just knew I would end up leaving someone off the list. I just didn’t expect anyone to identify themselves 🙂
[Duplicate post. – ed.]
>>So I’m going with “I’m right” and my reasoning is that it
>>is self-evident.
I’m with you on that one, OFTLO. Ipsa res loquitur.