08-23-2012, 06:55 PM | #1 |
Are you gonna eat that?
Posts: 1,633
Karma: 23215128
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Phillipsburg, NJ
Device: Kindle 3, Nook STG
|
Scientists Clear Path to the Fountain of Eternal Youth
"Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered an efficient and totally safe method to turn adult blood cells "all the way back to the way [they were] when that person was a 6-day-old embryo." The discovery could be the key to cure the incurable—from heart attacks to severed spinal cord to cancer—and open the door, some day, to eternal youth.
Scientists believe that stem cell therapy could change medicine forever. However, these therapies are impossible to implement on a large scale because you can't acquire embryonic stem cells without having to use actual human embryos—an extremely controversial undertaking. The alternative has always been to use the stem cells found in umbilical cords—which is why rich people use umbilical cord storage facilities to guarantee future treatments for their kids—or use viruses to reprogram adult cells. These viruses can successfully return adult cells to their stem cell state, but the procedure opens the door to numerous complications as a result of potential DNA mutations. And those mutations could lead to cancer. But this new method changes everything. To start with, it uses normal adult blood cells from the patient, so there's not need to keep umbilical cords in storage. It also doesn't use any virus reprogramming, so it's completely safe. It's also very efficient: researchers successfully transformed about 50 to 60 percent of adult blood cells into embryonic stem cells that can then be turn into any type of cell—a heart muscle cell, a bone cell, a nerve cell, anything." http://gizmodo.com/5937249/scientist...-eternal-youth |
11-30-2012, 06:14 PM | #2 |
Member Retired
Posts: 1,999
Karma: 11348924
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Limbo
Device: none
|
The lucky wealthy and super rich who will benefit from these breakthroughs for decades before the less fortunate will. I'm so happy for them.
|
11-30-2012, 07:55 PM | #3 |
Illiterate
Posts: 10,279
Karma: 37848716
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: The Sandwich Isles
Device: Samsung Galaxy S10+, Microsoft Surface Pro
|
Wow! and I thought I was a cynic.
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Free (Kindle) Age Smart: Discovering the Fountain of Youth at Midlife and Beyon | arcadata | Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links) | 0 | 09-26-2011 03:24 AM |
Do you write with a fountain pen? | AprilHare | Lounge | 80 | 09-30-2009 07:33 PM |
Young Adult Sedgwick, Anne Douglas: A Fountain Sealed. V1. 30 Apr 2009 | crutledge | IMP Books | 0 | 04-30-2009 07:46 AM |
Other Fiction Sedgwick, Anne Douglas: A Fountain Sealed. V1. 30 Apr 2009 | crutledge | ePub Books | 0 | 04-30-2009 07:43 AM |