giving your cells the ability to regenerate any organ or tissue. A company in Mass. starts human testing of platelets (blood-clotting particles) to reprogram them back to their original embryonic state.
Patients with anemia, leukemia and other blood-type problems that receive donated platelets develop a resistance over time. This causes those donations to be rendered almost ineffective. At the end of 2013, with the approval of the FDA, test subjects will have their own skin cells taken out and sent BACK IN TIME. This is what researchers call induced-pluripotent-stem-cells (IPSC). It means man-made (induced) and able to develop into any type of cell (liver, kidney, heart, etc.). I love that name! I’ll take 2 pints of IPSC and grow back any organ that needs replacement. Think about the implications. Currently we do heart, liver, lung, skin, eye and other transplants from those that have passed from this world. The risks are being on a waiting list, rejection and getting an infectious agent passed on to the recipient. Those risks will no longer exist. Your our own cells will be harvested and grown to fit your needs.
In 2007, scientists were successful at turning adult human skin cells into IPSC. This future research in ’13, will add human recipients to the menu getting closer to the future goal of organ regeneration.
But in life, no matter how good it looks, risks always seem to rear their ugly head(s). Whenever you are dealing with cells that contain DNA (our genes), with manipulation there is a chance of a genetic abnormality. What? It can lead to a tumor which can turn ugly. The research that is going on next year is with platelets. They do not have DNA in them so the risk is low. Low because there is a chance of DNA being a contaminant of the stem-cell process. Therefore, it may sneak into the platelets. Life is never simple, otherwise it would be quite boring.
Welcome to the future, tomorrow.
Categories: Health
Renovating Your Mind 
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