Researchers in the UK plan to make what’s being hailed as an unlimited supply of blood for transfusions using discarded stem cells found in human embryos. They’ll test embryos discarded from in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments to find those with embryonic stem cells that will make O-negative blood, which is the one type that can be transfused into anyone without being rejected…
Supplies of blood available for life-saving transfusions are limited. Local and regional pleas for blood by the Red Cross, owing to critically low levels, have become routine in the past decade. There’s more to it all than just giving blood. There are a host of tests that must be run on donor blood to make sure it is free of infection. And blood has a limited shelf life. Blood stored for 29 days or more (nearly 2 weeks less than the current standard for blood storage) is more likely to cause infection in transfusion patients, a study last year found.
Embryonic stem cells have the ability to become all the cells of the body. The idea is that harnessing their power would allow infinite production of what’d being termed “synthetic” blood that would be free of any infections that sometime plague blood supplies.
“In principle, we could provide an unlimited supply of blood in this way,” said team member Marc Turner, director of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service.
Any guess on how soon the True Believers go bonkers over this one?
I can see it now. Sunday school posters with little kiddies hanging upside-down from the tree of science, their blood being drained into atheists below.
I do not support scientists throwing babies into a blender to make blood. That is just wrong.
“Any guess on how soon the True Believers go bonkers over this one?”
5-4-3-2-1…………..
/me lights match and runs
-s
Yeah… this is going to be a true bloodbath in politics… yuk yuk yuk
Why bother blending up the embryos? After testing for the O negative ones, just allow the them to follow their normal development. After extraction, you can just stick a needle in them and get all the blood you need. The methods for perpetuating a post extraction embryo are simple and cheap.
This is ridiculous !!! How many of those poor little embryos, these human soles, end up in a dumpster if they aren’t turned into blood? Have you atheist types ever thought about that? Have you no morals?
Life is a muddle, isn’t it?
Actually I would count this a good news. 🙂 Since they’ve already figured out how to use stem cells from other non-embriotic stem cells to create new tissues of other types, you have to create new reasons to continue embrionic stem cell research. (No! no! Please don’t defund me! I’m still relavant!! )
Life is such a muddle.
Great news! Finally we are putting some of those useless embryos to work for us.
#6 has it right. Let the embryos develop into fetuses and then humans, then extract organs.
Just let the embryos come to full term. Put all the babies in cages with iv needles stuck in them and draw blood from them daily. This would be fr more efficient.
Actually I’m more interested in whether or not a genetically modified person developed by a corporation could ever be patented. It’s already done for other genetically modified products.
If you can patent a human, you can own them, no? Could make for interesting times.
And if you couldn’t enslave a human no matter if they are someone else’s intellectual property then what about merging just enough DNA to other organisms to be less than human, so the slavery claim is dropped?
Where do you draw the line? Fun times if you’re a lawyer I suppose.
Re #2: “I do not support scientists throwing babies into a blender to make blood. That is just wrong.”
Dallas, they don’t throw the embryos and they don’t use blenders.
So, we are good to go then?
Our “science-friendly” president (discreetly) and his supporters (much more loudly) are crowing over the lifting of restrictions on federal funding for embryo-destructive stem-cell research. Such a splendid victory over those reactionary troglodyte fundamentalists!
Right. Wait till science comes crashing up against political correctness, as it will at some point in coming years — probably under an Obama administration. Let’s see how much they love science then.
http://tinyurl.com/leftsci
As long as they only use Republican embryos I’m fine with this
every one knows Republicans don’t have souls
True-believer
The condition of continuing to believe a event/phenomenon after it has been debunked.
ya that sums up most of the we must never use these embryos for any thing but a landfill crowd
So, any Bible thumpers here going to turn down this blood in the future when you or your loved ones are in a serious accident? May you have the courage of your convictions. Me? I will gladly take what science and medicine provides.
Mr Fusion,
I am curious what your position is on the destroyed (and there are thousands destroyed every year) embryos due to fertility treatments?
While we’re at it, lets plug all those embryos into the Matrix. Combined with a form of fusion, we’ll have all the power we’ll ever need.
Various religions already refuse transfusions and transplants. This offers hope for the rest of us. If not, make sure all your friends, colleagues and partners are O neg.
smartalix, is it just me… or does it also seem to you that Mr. Fusion’s alias is being hijacked from time to time? Either that or he has MPD.
So, let me get this straight. It’s OK to kill the foetus and throw it into an incinerator, but it’s evil to extract a few cells before incineration.
#18,21 surely you recognize sarcasm?
#22, no, no both are okay.
Unlimited Supply of Blood: Not such a big deal.
The Next Step: Set up a “Cash for Organs” plan similar to the one being run in Singapore.
Then: Set up a “Human Cloning” program. Hire the doctor in Italy who claims he has already cloned 3 human babies.
And the final program: “Universal Health Care” for the ultimate in harvesting body parts.
Slippery Slope…