Posted by
CKHustler on Sunday, November 16, 2008 1:36:34 AM
Ok, so I know this is a political site, but as the elections just passed, I haven't a specific issue to write on. When I have more time I plan to start a series on the Federalist Papers, but I am a bit busy for that. I am a techy guy and as such, I get popular science each month. I saw an article regarding this issue a few months back and found it a major breakthrough. Then it was in this current months issue and thought it had to be much closer to being ready for humans. This will also be good news for all you retired folks here at TH. ;)
Meet your new heart! If you are needing a new one that is.
So the summary is that, tested and perfected on rats, if you need a new heart they can take a heart from a dead donor body, strip it of cells and bring it back to life using your cells. Pretty cool huh? Think of the possibilities of what this could do. People with failing hearts could get a new one at the end of the week instead of year. This will also increase the average time a person lives after a heart transplant as the heart essentially is made for them, since it came back to life with their cells. The body will then have a better chance of accepting the new organ.
The entire story can be found here:
http://www.popsci.com/bown/2008/product/recellularized-heart
Oh, and did I mention that it was invented at my home base U of Minnesota? hehe