Frankenstein just got real

[01101010]

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/first-self-replicating-synthetic-bacterial-cell-constructed-by-j-craig-venter-institute-researchers-94485589.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37238942/ns/health-health_care/ (commentary)

Interesting, on many a level, biological, theological, medical, and of course political.

Of course I get this distinct feelings someone in the DoD locked in a lab somewhere is laughing and pointing, saying something like "that is soooo last decade."

[K9]

This is a remarkable feat and will lead to more good things than bad in all likelihood. It is going to be very exciting to see how this progresses.

Regarding weaponising this, you have a LOT more mileage in just fucking around with existing pathogens. Pathogens need a pretty complex suite of genes to work. Building off this type of cell would be a lot more effort than it would be worth.

[Righ]

The real genetic weapon fun lies with engineering viruses that affect genetic features that are dominant in certain regions of the world. This is just good clean God stuff.

[Morat20]

I don't know if this should be it's own thread, but fuckit -- it fits. Retina grown from stem cells.

Researchers at the University of California at Irvine announced the creation of an eight layer, early stage retina from embryonic stem cells. This is the first three dimensional body part to be made from stem cells.

[Samwise]

That's awesome.  I have a friend who's going to UCI next fall to work on his PhD in biomedical science; I wonder if he'll be working on stuff like that.   

[Morat20]

That's awesome.  I have a friend who's going to UCI next fall to work on his PhD in biomedical science; I wonder if he'll be working on stuff like that.   

There's at least a dozen folks running around with lab-grown bladders. They're not perfect, but they're apparently a hell of a lot better than artificial ones and the rejection problem is a hell of a lot less than with donor organs.

They chose bladders to create because, well, they're simple. I've seen pictures of lab-grown rat hearts and such, but 'tissue engineering' is going to be a BIG field. Another decade or three, and "organ failure" means you're waiting for the shop to send you your new replacement organ (with original defects removed), that'll graft right to your body with little to no rejection issues, rather than hoping a tissue-compatable donor bites it before you do.