Cancer Patient Effectively Donates A Life-Saving Organ--To Himself

http://www.fastcompany.com/1765822/with-an-artificially-grown-trachea-transplant-the-futures-here

by martinshen • 15 years ago

79 25 15 years ago

ggchappell• 15 years ago

The ignorance the writer displays in the last paragraph is ridiculous. "Anti-stem cell research campaigns" are against use of embryonic stem cells. But the writer's own article indicates that adult stem cells were used here.

That said, assuming his description of the technique is reasonably accurate (which, given the above-mentioned nonsense, is by no means certain), this sounds like an interesting and useful technique.

esrauch• 15 years ago

While that is true, wouldn't embryonic stem cell fundamental research be capable of advancing adult stem cell technologies?

andrewflnr• 15 years ago

I see no reason to believe that. Advances in adult stem cell tech doesn't seem to have helped embryonic stem cell research. Why would it work in the other direction? Apparently there are significant differences. Anyway, we have little reason to try, give that adult stem cells are working and all the ethical, ah, difficulties with embryonic stem cells.

pigbucket• 15 years ago

>The ignorance the writer displays in the last paragraph is ridiculous. "Anti-stem cell research campaigns" are against use of embryonic stem cells. But the writer's own article indicates that adult stem cells were used here.

Some opponents have argued that stem-cell research is useless as well as, in the case of embryonic stem-cell research, ethically questionable. I take it the author's point is that now we can prove the general case: stem-cell research can lead to cures, and so disprove one of the (tactical) arguments of opponents. Rush Limbaugh at one point said embryonic stem-cell research in particular is useless, so he won't be bothered by this news.

lucasjung• 15 years ago

I've never heard anybody argue against adult stem-cell research, but I suppose it's possible that somebody out there is making that argument. The only time I've heard people bring up adult stem cell research is to point out that all of the actual treatments derived from stem cell research to date have come from adult stem cell research, and that it is therefore more pragmatic to focus resources on adult stem cell research rather than directing any resources into embryonic stem cell research.

Also, most of the arguments I've heard against embryonic stem-cell research acknowledge that it might in fact produce life-saving or life-changing treatments, but that it is nonetheless morally and/or ethically wrong. A literary parallel is Le Guin's "Those Who Walk Away from Omelas:" enormous good comes at the price of involuntary sacrifice on the part of a single innocent. Some conclude that the trade is morally and/or ethically acceptable because of all of the good that is obtained, which cannot be obtained by any other means; others conclude that the good obtained from the sacrifice does not justify the evil of the sacrifice.

hammock2• 15 years ago

This is by no means the first case of adult stem cells being used in a treatment.

lotharbot• 15 years ago

> The ignorance the writer displays in the last paragraph...

It may be ignorance. It may also be intentional, glossing over the difference in order to try to weaken opposition to ESC research.

Either way, it's an unfortunate blot on an otherwise solid article covering a tremendously interesting piece of news.

jawns• 15 years ago

NO ONE opposes stem-cell research using adult stem cells, which is what was used here. What the anti-stem cell research campaigns oppose is embryonic stem cell research, because it involves extracting cells from a human embryo, usually killing the embryo in the process.

And given that adult stem cell research 1) is morally unobjectionable; 2) is yielding effective treatments; and 3) contains no rejection risk ... I cannot understand why so many have pressed so hard for embryonic stem cell research. Factor #3 alone ought to be enough to give ASCR the edge.

Yet in the U.S., federal dollars have effectively been taken away from ASCR and given to ESCR.

invalidOrTaken• 15 years ago

I was flabbergasted to read that the new trachea grew in two days. Is this normal, or would they have had to put some sort of growth stimulant in the bioreactor?

If I sound ignorant, it's because I am, and I'd love for someone more knowledgeable about biotech to set me straight.

killerswan3• 15 years ago

Yeah, that is the most amazing part!

hammock2• 15 years ago

tspiteri 3 hours ago | link

The BBC site has a more detailed article from three days ago: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14047670 It says that the organ was made of glass in London, and then flown to Sweden and soaked for two days in a solution of the patient's stem cells.

sorbus• 15 years ago

That's nice, but it doesn't answer the question of whether two days is a normal amount of time to grow a trachea or if they used a growth stimulant.

maeon32• 15 years ago

I would like to grow myself a new body from my own stem cells without a brain, and transplant my brain into it. With any luck I might be able to squeak out another 100 years with only my brain decaying at the original rate.

SoftwareMaven2• 15 years ago

Given that we seem to have reached a point that medicine can cause the body to outlive the brain's shelf-life (eg Alzheimer's and the like), I'm not sure your plan is going to work out that well for you.

Joakal• 15 years ago

From my perception of death statistics for old people; it's diseases and cancer that may be said to kill, but it's lack of blood flow to the brain that kills.

maeon32• 15 years ago

Noted, however, I'd also like to defeat Alzheimer's by growing sub components of the brain one at a time and then swapping them out one at a time every few months. So over a few years I would have a new mind as well as a new body, as long as the spark of who I am can somehow leap from the old and dying components and migrate into the newer components, who I am, that spark that makes me ME will live on, in some way.

Sure, I technically wouldn't be "me" anymore, but technically I'm not me I was 10years ago, life is in constant flux. The technology in this article is the best chance I have at immortality. People, please devote more energy to this, it's important to me. I want to be around to see the human race become a space faring civilization, I want to see how we will deal with the 2nd law of thermodynamics where the energy of the universe runs down to zero.

tspiteri• 15 years ago

The BBC site has a more detailed article from three days ago: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14047670

It says that the organ was made of glass in London, and then flown to Sweden and soaked for two days in a solution of the patient's stem cells.

eps• 15 years ago

So they mention this being used for kids' surgeries. Would a replacement trachea grow with the rest of the body though?

jamesbkel• 15 years ago

My only-slightly-educated guess based off what I've read on this (read a few mentions of this story over the past week) is that while the child-sized trachea wouldn't just stop working/become disconnected, most likely there would be a later adult-sized replacement.

tgraydar• 15 years ago

This warms my heart. The one I 3-D printed just now.

Cancer Patient Effectively Donates A Life-Saving Organ--To Himself

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