

Nanoparticle gel helps rebuild brain and bone matter in rats - theblackbox
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32840280/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/

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aarongough
It's always amazing to hear about advances like this. Articles like this
always upset me a little as well though.

I don't think I'm overly sensitive (I'm a fighter, I enjoy a good steak and
I'm happy to go hunting) but reading things like this make you realize how
many of our medical advances come at the cost of intense discomfort for the
animals that help pave the way...

I look forward to more advances, like the new methods that help us culture
realistic skin samples independent of a human, that allow further advances to
come at a reduced cost to the animals/people involved.

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biohacker42
Lobby your government to allow more and earlier research on human volunteers.
Not only will this spare animals, it will also tremendously speed up research.

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chasingsparks
As someone who has (or had if you are a strong optimist) a rare form of
cancer, I strongly dislike the restrictions on medical research. I understand
the desire to prevent horrific abuses (e.g. Tuskegee) but I think the argument
against experimentation in fully-informed, rational patients is weak at best.
When my cancer comes back and if it lies beyond contemporary treatment, I
invite them to pump me full of whatever they can think of. At worst, my
outcome would be largely in line with my expected outcome -- but at least I
had a modicum of hope. Either way, they are likely to learn something.

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frig
Anyone know enough to know if a similar approach has been tried for soft
tissue repair (joints, tendons, ligaments, etc.)?

EG: injecting nanoparticles with suitable coatings as a way of promoting
faster joint repair (hips, wrists, shoulders, etc.).

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aarongough
They actually say in the article that they have had similar results with
tendon repair (in the section where they're talking about bone repair). I'm
not sure about other soft tissues.

Its unfortunate that because of the laws against the uses human stem cells we
already miss out on a bunch of very valid and useful soft-tissue treatments!

There's actually a company that is already doing soft-tissue regeneration
(specifically tendons) using autologous stem cells for dogs, very cool stuff!
I'll post the link to the article if I can find it! Maybe this could be a
viable alternative though!

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frig
I missed that; ctrl-f tendon doesn't find it, but ctrl-f cartilage turns it
up. Thanks for bringing it up.

When you hit a certain age "oh my aching joints" is far more relevant to your
interests than "brains might survive motorcycle crash", though the brain stuff
is admittedly cooler.

Stem cells may not necessary for soft tissue; if you could inject some time-
release hormones or steroids or whatnot you might get improved results vis-a-
vis what's out there now.

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aarongough
Haha, unfortunately for me that age was 23... I'm 24 now and still dealing
with knees that I almost destroyed via my love for martial arts...

I totally agree that stem cells may not be needed but it would be amazing if
scientists got to explore _all_ of the possibilities, rather than just the
ones people weren't afraid of for a number of un-informed reasons...

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TriinT
What are "nonoparticles"? Are they particles whose size is in the "nonometer"
range?

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theblackbox
triedness kills

