

Cancer Patient Effectively Donates A Life-Saving Organ--To Himself - martinshen
http://www.fastcompany.com/1765822/with-an-artificially-grown-trachea-transplant-the-futures-here

======
ggchappell
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.

~~~
pigbucket
>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
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.

------
invalidOrTaken
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.

~~~
hammock
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
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.

~~~
carbocation
The linked article basically answers the question. The physical shape of the
trachea, carina, and right and left mainstem bronchi was created from glass.
Over the course of two days, that glass became lined with the patient's cells.

To be clear, the claim is not that the glass was replaced by human cells over
the course of two days.

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

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

------
maeon3
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.

~~~
SoftwareMaven
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
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.

~~~
killerswan
Yeah, IIRC, a lot of the apparent loss in brain function is really just
cardiovascular.

~~~
dhughes
People tend to overlook the 'vascular' part.

I've read some pretty disturbing examples of how some people have their bowels
rot due to the blood flow in the artery (arteries?) becoming restricted or
even blocked from supplying the bowels the same way arteries in the heart are
but it's not as apparent as it is for the heart.

~~~
killerswan
D:

I've also heard things about how, for example, simply walking regularly for
exercise can sometimes be more effective than chemotherapy.

