Mice regrow hearts (not NIMH related)

I saw this on http://digg.com a bit ago:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16417002%255E30417,00.html

Interesting scientific development, though I can't say I'd want to be one of the mice that were involved in the experiment... :shock:

Hey Seoman,

That was indeed an interesting article. I myself have from time to time wished for the ability to regenerate body parts such as limbs and organs. If I had the ability, I imagine that I could regenerate my bum ankle to "like new" condition and I would have 20/20 vision. But alas, such is not the case and I must be content with what i have. I suppose that it could be far worse for right now at this very moment there are some 2000(+/-) young men and women who will never return home having made the ultimate sacrifice.... :(

but just think if this works out we may see it being admenistered withen 20-30 years. the next step is to find out how to regenerate the brain.

Hey, NIMHmaniac, are you in the military? Were you over in Iraq?

Hey, NIMHmaniac, are you in the military? Were you over in Iraq?

To GrizzlyCoon,

The answer to your question would be NO. But I have spoken with people who have been over there and who have lost loved ones in this conflict and the stories they tell are nothing short of horrific.

Oh man, In order for them to study the body parts growing back, that means It first has to be removed :shock:. Poor little guys :(

Oh man, In order for them to study the body parts growing back, that means It first has to be removed :shock:. Poor little guys :(

ah but one must remember thier sacrifice is not in vain. be sure not to forget the cause they died for. whether you agree with it or not. remember for that is the key to end the need of pointless sacrifice.

This is a very interesting development indeed. To think that science has made so many advances in such a short time...Plus, this particular case doesn't seem to have all the edgy ethical issues attached like some other discoveries and innovations.

Still, some may balk at the methods used to test the new genes. However, like leejakobson has said, it's really the only way to find out whether their theories were correct. This is the same for all other kinds of animal experiments; if we do not ascertain first whether some method or drug or other such thing functions properly in other animals, then we would be putting humans at an unreasonable risk (and yes, I do consider poeple to be more important than animals, but that is for another debate).

Oddly enough, this article strongly reminded me of a small unfinished excerpt that Paul Gibbs once submitted to Robin's. It is here: http://robin.thornvalley.com/node/191

It seems that fiction once again precursors history, as Jules Verne did with his writings long ago...

After, they all ready have the body! <chuckling>

Hello everyone! My good friend the Desert Mouse said I should join this "hip" group of Animaniacs. And since he seems to think you folks alright, who am I to resist?

I'd say more about myself, but my website (shown below) has my bio on it, so go there if you like.

I'm looking forward to participating here. Seems you have some pretty bright bulbs in the box here...I like Mattias' lil' signature quote... a man who thinks as I do me thinks.

On the current topic: I'm not sure that I would agree with the statement that there are no "ethical entanglements" to hazard here, especially when the end goal is to possibly clone WHOLE human bodies... Yes, I think that is the goal.
God save us from soul-less zombies walking the earth... we already have enough of those.

Best regards

i dont think the goal of regenerating parts is to grow clones but rather to make parts

VERY intersting. I'm interested to see if this works better than the stem-cell and cloning research we've been using mice for. According to the research (more like observation :wink: ) I've been doing for the past few years (cloning and stem-cell research is one of those subjects that keeps me fascinated), cloned mice and organ transplants product to stem-cell reproduction more or less floundered. Mice kept dying, experiencing premature aging, rejecting their organs, and produced many cases of severe arthritic animals.

If this works out, I may have yet another subject to watch closely. It's a wonder how far medicine is progressing. :) My curiosity is piqued. Thanks, Simon.

I'm not sure that I would agree with the statement that there are no "ethical entanglements" to hazard here, especially when the end goal is to possibly clone WHOLE human bodies... Yes, I think that is the goal.

Hm...I never looked at it in that way before. In that case, then, I would be very wary indeed (I'm probably the most anti-human cloning guy I know). Still, I'm not too worried...like lee said, the main focus of the expreiment was to regenerate parts, though I'm open to the possibility that they might use these techniques in cloning.

This, of course, leads me to express some of my own views on the matter. Like I said before, I am quite against human cloning of any kind, for two reasons: 1.) The process of cloning violates the human diginity of the one cloned; it reduces humans to their biological parts, and 2.) The prupose of cloning is often to "harvest" the organs of the clone for therapheutic purposes. Now, since the clone is, by all rights, a human person, and such a process involves the destruction of the clone, I simply cannot stand for this.

One can hope that this discovery corcerning limb regenertaion will not be "hijacked" and used for less savoury purposes.

Those are very interesting facts, Tort. I haven't been keeping track of the stem-cell debate too well, though I am very much concerned by it. Your statement prompts me to recall something I heard about the use of adult stem-cells, that is, stem-cells derived from the patient rather than from a clone or an embryo. Though some of what I've read has indicated that adult stem-cells offer better promise, being more stable and having little risk of rejection, the more common view out there is the exact opposite. I'd be interested in finding out how you've come across your observations.

I'll go ahead and admit it has been a little over four months since I lat delved into that section of the cloning and stem-cell reproduction subject. Still, the process hasn't changed the stem-cells themselves. In theory, there should be no rejection from any identical stem-cell, but we've basically proven to ourselves that DNA isn't everything. Plotting genes is adding "hope" to the matter, but I have yet to read an article that shows any purely successful experiments.

I'll try and pull up some of my old articles from last semester so I can refer you to them. I used them in a research paper, so I should have them in a folder in my office. If I can't find them, you can just call me mudd. :wink: The one article I liked more than any others detailed the eight-step process in producing a clone embryo written up by some medical university. The fact of the was (according to that article) that we've tried to clone humans before, but all the evidence points to complete failure. They have yet to get the embryo to survive beyond the sixth stage.

I'm with you on the ethical standings. Even in areas where we're not sure, the possibilities are too much like wild cards. Where medicine and law are concerned, there can be little margin for error if we wish to proceed. Simply too much is at stake to take thoughtless jabs at knowledge.

1). i believe the goal of cloning should be for medical advancements. not to create a whole other being. i mean why clone a human being when one just needs to clone a heart.

2). i think genetic research should be allowed. if it prevents birth defects. i mean if can manipulate dna so that no one will have a bad heart then why not do it.

3). i believe medical research should only be used to make a person healthy either mentaly or physicaly. but i also believe that medical research should not be used to alter ones appearence. meaning i dont believe in plastic surgery.

Of course, the essential concern is to what standards we should adhere and to what limits to we define and enforce to ensure that moral and ethical boundaries are not being violated. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be happening right now. In fact, several scientist interviews I've read have shown a complete disregard for any sort of ethical standard. One particularly chilling passage that a scientist uttered basically said that one couldn't argue with anyone who believed that the embyro was human. Simply put, he was just shoving their concerns under the carpet.

Now, I am all for using scientific advances to improve our welfare, but I also believe that there are certain boundaries you cannot cross. I cannot be truly comfortable with the brave innovations of modern sciene (especially modern biology) until people like the scientist I've mentioned learn to subordinate their desire for knowledge for the greater good and dignity of mankind.

I cannot be truly comfortable with the brave innovations of modern sciene (especially modern biology) until people like the scientist I've mentioned learn to subordinate their desire for knowledge for the greater good and dignity of mankind.

I agree. The key word there is "subordinate." We are all people under authority, whether we be pawns under the king or kings under God. A man unchecked by the regulations of an authority head quickly loses his grasp on reason and rightness. In this day and age especially, no one can afford to disregard others around him/her, especially when that which we take part in affects them in any way.

The key word is "subordinate", how do we as under God (that we as humans are subordinate) treat the animals that we have been given care over, After all who named them?

The key word is "subordinate", how do we as under God (that we as humans are subordinate) treat the animals that we have been given care over, After all who named them?

How very right you are, Whiskers. And I'll kick myself for not remembering the reference, but since we were placed in a position as basic keeper of the animals, we should constantly be aware that we have been called to be good stewards of all that we own, as everything we have is given to us, and can so easily be taken away.