I wonder if this will disrupt the market for HIV treatment?
Whole organ 'grown' in world first
11–18 of 18 posts
Re: Whole organ 'grown' in world first
#12I wonder if this will disrupt the market for HIV treatment?
Reading your post, I realize that I don't know what you mean, but the first thing that came to my mind it's that it's possible to bioengineer a new organ, a virus filter (or blocker) that it's atatched to a vein.
It's anybody working at this? Sinthetic new function organs, blocking new virus, or toxic molecules (plastics, pesticides, etc..) that can be grown outside the body and implanted to work as a natural organ. Residues could be excreted in an encapsulated way through the intestine.
Re: Whole organ 'grown' in world first
#13I'm donating a kidney to a stranger at the end of September. People seem to think that it's crazy, but I tell them that if I ever need a kidney then they'll likely just be able to grow me a new one by that point. I've been following this stuff lightly for a few years and if you look at the pace of technological progression, especially when it comes to things like mapping the human genome, it's easy to think that in 5…
Good for you! My Dad did the same (donated kidney to a stranger) about 5 years ago, and still feels very happy with the decision.
It was hard for me, because there's a non-zero chance that I'm going to lose a couple of years with my Dad because of this. I'm glad he did it though, because someone else's Dad might get to live because of it.
I assume you're undergoing counseling before the operation. If you decide you don't want to go through with it that's totally fine - the fact that you're considering it at all is amazing.
Re: Whole organ 'grown' in world first
#14There is a fascinating TED talk about a surgeon who demos a 3D printer that uses living cells to "print" a kidney:
http://www.ted.com/talks/anthony_atala_printing_a_human_kidn...
Re: Whole organ 'grown' in world first
#15I wonder if this will disrupt the market for HIV treatment?
Reading your post, I realize that I don't know what you mean, but the first thing that came to my mind it's that it's possible to bioengineer a new organ, a virus filter (or blocker) that it's atatched to a vein. It's anybody working at this? Sinthetic new function organs, blocking new virus, or toxic molecules (plastics, pesticides, etc..) that can be grown outside the body and implanted to work as a natural organ.…
I'm no expert, but I assumed that HIV meds damage the kidneys, making treatment a balancing act of too aggressive treatment killing the kidneys vs not addressive enough allowing the virus to do its damage.
Being able to grow a replacement kidney would allow more aggressive treatments. I think this would be true of many diseases, though, not just HIV.
I know my mother-in-law has to live with the knowledge that the meds she takes to manage her bipolar disorder may eventually be what kills her, due to kidney disease.
EDIT: I said kidney because the first couple comments referenced kidneys. Could apply to other organs. The basic idea is that meds often damage organs as a side effect, so being able to replace the organ opens up more possibilities for aggressive treatments.
Re: Whole organ 'grown' in world first
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
Reading your post, I realize that I don't know what you mean, but the first thing that came to my mind it's that it's possible to bioengineer a new organ, a virus filter (or blocker) that it's atatched to a vein. It's anybody working at this? Sinthetic new function organs, blocking new virus, or toxic molecules (plastics, pesticides, etc..) that can be grown outside the body and implanted to work as a natural organ.…
I'm no expert, but I assumed that HIV meds damage the kidneys, making treatment a balancing act of too aggressive treatment killing the kidneys vs not addressive enough allowing the virus to do its damage. Being able to grow a replacement kidney would allow more aggressive treatments. I think this would be true of many diseases, though, not just HIV. I know my mother-in-law has to live with the knowledge that the med…
Thank you, I didn't know that HIV medication daages the kidneys.
Re: Whole organ 'grown' in world first
#17I'm donating a kidney to a stranger at the end of September. People seem to think that it's crazy, but I tell them that if I ever need a kidney then they'll likely just be able to grow me a new one by that point. I've been following this stuff lightly for a few years and if you look at the pace of technological progression, especially when it comes to things like mapping the human genome, it's easy to think that in 5…
If some people reading this would like to make a positive contribution, but donating an entire kidney is a little too much for them, I highly encourage you to sign up for the bone marrow donor registry: http://bethematch.org/
Re: Whole organ 'grown' in world first
#18I'm a bit surprised to hear there is such a thing as lab-grown human brains... sounds like high potential for controversy there.
I'm sorry you weren't supposed to have heard about it yet. My apologies.
Would you prefer to be reset to a pre-revelation state or would you prefer to be shown around your vat?