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Scientists Grow Human Thymus From Stem Cells
knight_23 writes: "The Herald
Sun reports
that Australian researchers have grown a functioning thymus from stem cells. The
thymus is a small organ that is critical to the immune system. Human trials could
begin within two years."
Cool! Maybe I'll live long enough to get my own new heart!
-- Cheers!
one of the parts that is affected by HIV? also, if this can be done..think of all those "bubble boys" that have reduced immune systems. This could be a VERY good thing.
RoundTop
Will that new liver/lungs I wanted for christmas be plug and play compliant?
Linux is dead.
LU
it's sad.... all the resrictions imposed upon advancements of science are a result of conseratives fearful of playing god, the uneducated massess control the politicians with their ideas, or lack of rather. a preist says it's wrong, they say it's wrong, politicians say it's wrong, so it is wrong, right? wrong! i'm for any medical advancement that saves the lives of people, but i guess my $0.02 is worth the same as the twits i disagree with...
--fetch daddy's blue fright wig, i must be handsome when i release my rage
Grow John Bobbitt a replacement penis?
The functions of the thymus were not well understood until the early 1960s, when its role in the development of the body's system of immunity was discovered. Beginning during fetal development, the thymus processes many of the body's lymphocytes, which migrate throughout the body via the bloodstream, seeding lymph nodes and other lymphatic tissue. The main cells undergoing this processing are the T cells, a heterogeneous groups of cells essential in protecting the body against invasions by foreign organisms. If the thymus fails to develop or is removed early in fetal life, the immune system cannot develop completely. Normally, by the time the infant is a few months old, the immune system has sufficiently formed so as to function throughout life. However, further growth and development of lymphoid tissue still depends on intervention by the thymic cells. After the initial seeding process, the thymus releases a hormonal substance that stimulates further growth of lymphoidal tissue, although such a substance has not yet been isolated.
dam()
Useless sig.
It is too bad that more hospitals aren't allowing the donation of umbilical stem cells (stem cells collected from cord blood). They are largely an untapped resource and are usually considered PC even in the most conservative camps.
Not that that's a bad thing, mind you. I just hope we don't end up with giant killer thymuses (thymi? nah) rampaging through downtown Cleveland. Again.
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
Come back and tell me when they can grow a Shakey's Pizza
Help the scientists free the world from the evil curse of the dracula
It seems that the Herald Sun's article is focusing on how great the thymus is, and all the nifty things it can do -- when the real breakthrough is the fact that they GREW A FRICKIN' FUNCTIONING ORGAN FROM STEM CELLS. Jesus Christ! Move this tech over to the heart, liver, kidneys, whatever, and NOW you've got the "holy grail of immunology". Yeah, I realize it's a lot of work to do something like this, and requires specialized effort and development for different organs, but if the basic technology works... ay caramba.
Maybe I'm missing something, and this isn't as big a deal as I think it is... but if it is...
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
From science fiction, the impression I always got was that the way handle the failure of a heart was either going to be transplant from a donor or the use of synthetic organs (e.g. artificial hearts). This seems like a more impressive technology, allowing the body to grow its own replacement, and a more natural one, by eliminating the risk of rejection of artificial substances or organs grown in a different body.
I did find some of the quotes from Professor Boyd somewhat melodramatic, though: "Without a functioning immune system you get a disease called death,"he said.
Still, an amazing discovery. Good luck to those doing cutting edge medical research.
Before we get 100 posts telling us that stem cell research is being held up by whacko Chrisitian right wing bible thumpers...
May I remind you that there are hundreds of Sci-Fi stories (books, TV, movies, etc...) debating the creation of an UNDERCLASS! Whether this be robots, animals, races or CLONES!!!
Space - Above and Beyond (FOX TV) "Tanks," human clones and "AIs"
Star Trek TNG: Data/Lor. And those stupid mouse looking robots that could synthesis their own tools.
Asimov I, Robot: self-explanatory
Max Headroom: body harvesters
Brave New World: alphas.
Any others? Feel free to add a few if you can think of them... I don't have time (I'm at work) to list all of the ones that I can think of, so please help out.
Anyway, I hate the idea of stem cell research. And I'm a self-proclaimed atheist. It's only a matter of time before somebody connects "test tube baby" technology with "cloning" technologies and grows their own stem cells from human fetuses.
Isn't this the creation of an underclass of humans whos purpose it is to serve the higher classes?
quote:
"The thymus produces, educates and distributes special white cells called T lymphocytes (T-cells) which help to control the immune system and fight infection.
But T-cells are destroyed when cancer patients undergo chemotherapy and also by the AIDS virus. The cells are also suppressed in people who have had organ transplants."
this is a significant problem that is one of the biggest factors leading to disease in immunocompromised patients. the reason why they're also suppressed in patients with organ transplants is that they require immunosuppresant therapy, so that they own body doesn't reject the donor organ.
in a nutshell, your body doesn't like non-self things. if there's a non-self thing in your system, say, someone else's liver, your immune system will flip out and demonstrate Real Ultimate Power.
what's needed is some sort of component that can be introduced into the body that can aid the immune system intelligently. something that resists destruction by chemotherapy, and something that is "smart" enough to know what to attack, and what to leave alone. T-cells don't do this.
nanotechnology offers this. i know it's going to be years from now, but i hope that scientists will be able to shrink Mr. T into an injectable form. These Mr. T-cells will seek out and berate questionable cells and foreign bodies and beat them down, if necessary.
some genetic work may be needed to strengthen its intelligence such that the Mr. T-cells don't kill everything in sight.
"what's all this jibba-jabba bout chemo?"
"i pity the immune system who ain't got no T."
It's obvious that our corporate culture has even infected slashdot...
The scary part is: "Stem sells" is probably just as valid.
I can get this system to grow me a new steak whenever I want. Mm-mm - fresh biotech in the oven!
(Yes, I know it probably wouldn't taste as good as range grown cow, thank you Mr/Ms. "I don't get sarcasm".)
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
No, but with a few of these in vitro-grown thymuses (thymii?) implanted in your body, you'll develop a Wolverine-like super immune system and live to be a bitter, violent 150-year old amnesiac super hero.
Freedom: "I won't!"
It is definitely a greate advance in the biological science. But it will take at least 5-10 years to make it practically useful. And all the claims about prospectives sound like a story about a PhD student who wanted to prove the applicability of his puerly theoretical thesis on descrete maths: -The present thesis is on descrete maths. Descrete maths is applied in synthesis of conatat element schemes. The latter are a model of relay circuits. And relays are used in various agricaltural machines, which are of a great use.
How can you say that without knowing the type of stem cells they used, or even if they were embryonic where their source was? InspectorZero has InformationZero to base the comment on because the article doesn't give it.
Oh, and the sweetest day will be when you need new skin or lungs, and because US law doesn't allow the importing of exported Chinese prisonor farmed parts you won't be able to get it.
See how stupid you sound?
Think of the commercal uses, Pineal gland extract sales to Vegas Gamblers and cheap pure adrenochrome. man, just think now we don't have to kill people just for some. ****
Sorry about the writing. Robot fingers, you know? Cliff Steele in DOOM PATROL #23
basically, there are T cells and B cells (i won't even get into the Mr. T-cells in this post-- though i've mentioned them in another post). the precursors for these are made very early in life, either in the fetal liver or yolk sac, or later in bone marrow.
these precursors differentiate, or "grow up" in the thymus. basically, they're "taught" how to work. hmn. i just re-read your post. i'll cut to the chase:
tons and tons of each type of cell precursor are made. the typical lifespan of T-cells is thought to be in the period of months to years. "memory" T cells, in particular, are thought to have very long lifespans in the range of "many" years.
it is important to note that production of precursors does _not_ halt: they are constantly produced in the bone marrow. also, the thymus doesn't poof entirely-- it maintains function, though it shrinks tremendously in size as we get older.
The world doesn't need a fountain of youth.
What we need is a fountain of SMART.
Beta sux! Join the Slashcott! http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=4760465&cid=46173047
Bush allowed stem cell research to continue, he banned public money from being spent on it.
It was a smart move. He got to basically end the debate over stem cell research, letting the anti-stem-cell people think they had won, all the while real research can continue in private industry.
I'm not a conservative, but I think he handled this one pretty well. (Of course, as a Libertarian, I am all for ending government handouts of any kind).
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
I don't know about this. The immune system is a complicated beast. It involves tens of organs, hundreds of enzymes, and thousands of cells, all acting in harmony to maintain the health of the whole. You can't just throw thymuses at the problem and expect it to go away. We need to look for a more holistic solution, attacking the root problem rather than patching the symptoms.
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
The US could drop some nukes on afghanistan and save US lives by obliterating every last afghan, but people are against it... Why? Because it comes at a tremendous cost.
We must proceed with caution with such powerful technology as cloing and stem cell projects.
It's not necessary to allow companies to harvest babies for stem-cells when they're doing fine with what they've got. If we don't put limitations on people they'll abuse their power. It's human nature.
The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin
Your understanding of T cells is correct. However, T cells mature from the basic stem cell in the thymus during childhood. Without a thymus (or a dysfunctional thymus), the body will not have any fully-functional T cells. This results in a vulnerability to devastating viral infections that you or I would fight off in about a week.
Krishna
Hmm. Does this mean that in 2004 they'll put the thymus inside someone to see if it works, or that in 2004 they'll start trying to grow a whole human?
Maybe medical technology will progress to the point where the spam mail and web pop-ups relating to "Ancient Sudanese Techniques" to "enhance your masculinity" will actually no longer be spam, merely factual advertisment.
-- Mal: "Well they tell you: never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious."
As with everything, patchwork systems don't seem to ever run as well as the origional. You can go out and buy a beat-up 73 station wagon and restore it, but when you are done can you ever honestly say you fixed _everything_ broken on it and _every_ system has been restored to factory-fresh capasity?
- Sig
When it's ill-considered action that's not rationally justified by a situation, that's when. Acting without thought is often a far worse option than waiting and considering.
Only the dead have seen the end of war.
The thymus is a small organ that is critical to the immune system. Human trials could begin within two years.
Human trials of what? An immune system? So the un-authorized trials of billions of people over the last hundred thousand years are invalid (pun intended)?
In any case, I definitely agree; this "immune system" scientists have been proposing definitely needs more clinical research before we can allow one to be used on real people.
By the way, exactly who owns the patent on it?
I dissagree with you. I am by no means against technology (after all why would I read slashdot all of the time?) but that doesn't mean that I believe that we humans should dive into every technology that we develop.
The problem with technology and humans is that humans have a knack for doing more harm with a technology than good. To say that genetic engineering is only good is being very ignorant of humans' knack for doing harm. Don't get me wrong, not everybody is going to use these technologies for evil, but all it takes is another Hitler (who did plenty of expirements with genetics himself) to come along and figure out how to use genetic engineering to control many people.
Bill Joy (the chief computer scientist at Sun Microsystems) wrote an article in Wired Magazine that opened my eyes to the dangers of tecnology. I believe that every person who believes that genetic engineering is good (which it is in some cases, such as saving lives) should read this article. It can be found here.
...interesting if true.
until they can grow my wife larger breasts.
A number of Larry Niven's stories in his future history "Known Space" cycle touch on this point, but arrived at a reverse conclusion in some cases: because people lived longer, they took fewer chances.
Even Hollywood will give you examples of this, although usually they look at it from the other end: "I've only got to live, so I'll go do something heroic which will probably result in my death, but big friggin' deal because I'm about to die."
The extension of that line of thought predicted by many SF authors is, "I've got three centuries of good livin' in front of me if I don't fuck it up, so why risk it all doing something possibly dangerous, like mountain climbing, deep-sea diving, or attempting to cross the street in downtown Chicago."
(The SF-aspect of the stories usually involves activities that we would think of as typical being perceived, in the brave new world, as "something possibly dangerous".)
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
bzzzt! Nobody's talking about banning adult stem cell research. That's just made up propaganda. Cloning is not the same as stem cell research.
Grow John Bobbitt a replacement penis?
Okay, I'll bite. (Actually, I don't bite.)
Forget about replacements. How about spares? Or extras? You know, redundancy. Or maybe just additional size?
Or maybe now all those SPAM messages will come true!
I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
There is no role for the thymus in the adult human. I wonder who they are going to do trials in - DiGeorge patients (22q11 deletion - often athymic). I can't imagine many parents allowing someone to install a new thymus in their kid...but I guess some people are desperate. I doubt that this will work at all.
"Possible consequences: loss of your immune response memory. It seems like lymphocytes retire there and protect you from the stuff they were good at killing in their youth. If you replaced your thymus, you'd probably be susceptible to chicken pox (and worse) again if it wasn't done very carefully."
That could be a very good thing. Because in
auto-immune disease (MS, arthiritis and many
more), the immune system has learned to attack
the wrong things and busy causing you pain or is
even killing you.
Yeah right. Of course I need the prospect of
ten years of delibrating weakness followed by
obvilion to make my days worth living (not). The world isn't any more meaningful because we mortal, just sadder and scarier.
Is that like "big tabacco"?
Anyway, the important thing here should be how to improve peoples lives. You're not a doctor, so shut up. I say let people do research to determine what's actualy better.
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
There are at least three types of T cells: Th cells (helper T cells), Tc cells (cytotoxic T cells), and TDTH cells (delayed-type hypersensitivity T cells). The existence of Ts cells (suppressor T cells) has been postulated but is apparently still controversial. In addition, Th cells are further subdivided into Th1 cells necesary for cell-mediated immunity (primarily targeting viral infections and tumors) and Th2 cells necessary for antibody production. T cells and B cells are both lymphocytes, which are a different lineage of white blood cells than macrophages.
awwwwww, is the karma whore unhappy to read the truth?
Either add constructive commentary or lurk.
Feed the need: Digitaladdiction.net
What I wish the article had discussed is how thymic transplants would actually help in treating HIV infection or in preventing transplant rejection.
Since T cells are initially generated in the bone marrow, a new thymus wouldn't have much of an effect with increasing T cell populations. Furthermore, even if you could somehow boost T cell numbers, what's to prevent the virus from infecting these new cells?
With organ transplantation, reject happens most rapidly when HLA haplotypes between donor and recipient aren't perfectly matched, and a new thymus wouldn't really do much to solve this mismatch.
On the other hand, I can easily see how this new development can help children with SCIDs or congenital thymic hypoplasia/aplasia.
fat's full of stem cells
That's quite an extraordinary claim. Would you please back that up with a reference of some kind?
--grendel drago
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
Gah. What I typed was "I've only got <some short period of time> to live," but I typed the angle characters directly instead of < so they got interpreted as an HTML tag and dropped.
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)