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Scientists Grow Pig's Heart On Sheep's Neck
t0rnt0pieces writes "Yahoo! News reports that Nebraska scientists say they successfully grafted a pig's heart to a sheep by manipulating the immune systems of both animals, a step that may soon allow scientists to grow organs for human transplantation. Trials using pig organs to transplant into humans are on the way. Besides hearts, the technology could be applicable to kidney, liver and pancreatic islet cell transplants. Take a look at a picture of one of the sheep here."
I mean an ear on a mouse i can understand....
I think this is a hoax, call me sceptical but the heart wouldn't have anything to pump so wouln't grow correctly?
Who knows, worries me though.
That sheep looks like the ballchinian from Men in Black 2.
I don't think this will be popular in Israel or other middle eastern countries - just as well.
We have created the ultimate beast! A monkey with 5 asses.
Now they can make pork, ham and bacon all come from the same animal... :P
This sheep has only one ass! It's useless to me!
...didn't they go for something more important, like wings on the back of a pig?
correct me if I'm worng, but is it quite a bit easier to get the heart attached than it is to get it to function correctly?
THIS SPACE FOR RENT
ewe...
That is just totally wrong. No way anyone should do that to anything.
I'm disgusted.
Chase
-==-
"Take a look at a picture of one of the sheep here..."
Awe man... I was hopin' they wouldn't...
Yet it takes a cornhusker national championship to make people conglomerate in the middle of 72nd & Dodge and act like total idiots.
crappy editing + hyperbole = news
OMAHA, Nebraska - Nebraska scientists say they successfully grafted a pig's heart to a sheep by manipulating the immune systems of both animals, a step that may soon allow scientists to grow organs for human transplantation.
Personally I'd like to graft a baseball bat to the scientists' faces at high speed. I guess it would be rejected but I'm willing to take that chance
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
Human ears on mice
Pig's heart on sheep
What's next?
In latest news scientists have announced that they have engineered a monkey with a duck's bill, a cat's whiskers, a pig's tail and a elephant's ears. Dunno what use it will be for the monkey in question, but anything in the aid of science / boffinism.
Just when I was getting tired of ASCIId goatsex, they made goat horror new again.
Thank you, science!
Keep your packets off my GNU/Girlfriend!
But when an ant farms aphids for its own use, that's nature?
We now have confirmed reports from an informed Orange County minister that Ethel is still an active communist.
-T
And what better way to say, "I love you" than with the gift of a heart-shaped... uh, heart.
Little Debian: America's #1 Snack Distro!
How do you plan to test your immunology theories without doing real research on living things? You don't plan to test them? Fine, go ahead and die your ignorant and natural death but please shut up until then.
when I met my currect GF I didn't kill her child like a male lion would have done when it finds a new mate.
If I was to kill her child and eat it I'm pretty sure most people would regard that as barbaric if not pure evil.
We, as humans, have devised a set of social contracts with regard to how we treat each other, these contracts are backed up by the threat of state violence culmination in execution.
Yet this is a relatively recent state of affairs. 200 years ago if you had any money you had to watch your back and inspect your food lest your relatives decided it was time to inherit.
Living at the expense of others is seen nowadays to be one of the biggest sins of all and yet we exploit our fellow creatures as though their lives mean nothing and their suffering less.
It's bad enough that we factory farm them for food. To me using them as organ factories is an unspeakable horror. One that will shame us the same way slavery shames casts shame upon our forefathers.
Non-white people were considered less than human. That we continue to use 'less than human' to define the right to live unmolested and without suffering pains me.
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
I have heard of wearing your heart on a sleeve but this is absurd.
D.A.K.D.A.E.---- Deny all Knowledge, Destroy All Evidence
How weird that they are doing something similar with a sheep and pig, well sort of.
Does anyone else really understand the correlations of sci-fi and real life? Its not just coincidence that some of these stories happen, its because sci-fi authors see the world as it potentialy could be. Yes the shows are fiction, but the sci in sci-fi is for science and often times they are based on reality and the truth is streatched.
Only 'flamers' flame!
the scientists simply blushed and started giggling madly...
"And what better way to say, "I love you" than with the gift of a heart-shaped... uh, heart."
In one of my biology labs, there was a story about a student who presented his fair lady with a heart shaped box one Valentine's day. But instead of chocolates, the box contained, well...
Let me digress for a moment with a bit of Biology trivia. A turtle's heart will continue to beat for a considerable length of time after being removed from the body. Thanks to it's low metabolic rate and stable SA (pacemaker) node, it can continue to pulse slowly for days, if kept moist with an appropriate salt solution.
So... this girl opens the box and there's a beating heart in there. Unfortunately, the story doesn't record her reaction. However, I have my doubts as to whether the fellow got anywhere with his gift.
I've heard of wearing your heart on your sleeve, but this is ridiculous.
www.eFax.com are spammers
I just find it vastly amusing that you feel confident in your authority in speaking for sheep.
We've already grown humans with assess attached to the top of their necks. Currently they were last seem working in RIAA adminstration...
Correct me if I'm wrong, but do we already use valves from pig hearts to replace human valves sometimes?
Also, I'm pretty sure that we use ligaments from pigs in knee surgery. Does anyone know about this?
Wouldn't this make an awesome pet?
i doubt that many vivisectors lay awake at night pondering the tenet of that argument. if the pharmacological coplex was really concerned then they would be investing in finding technologies that stopped vivisection. Instead they try and patent the genetic makeup for the perfect vivisection mouse.
Medicine for profit doesn't even take any notice of such issues. Reducing the levels of animal testing is simply not on the roadmap.
when billions of creatures are factory farmed and slaughtered to feed the meat addiction then why would anyone even care about the horrific treatment of a few mice?
if you think you're not addicted then think about what it would take you to stop? BSE? Heart disease? Antibiotic contamination? Water pollution transferred to fish? Crohn's disease from milk? (I've got that one, it's not much fun) Rainforest de-forestation? Water conservation? Global warming from cattle flatulence?
I'll get off my high horse now but like all the challenges we face a wider view is called for. Self preservation takes many forms.
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
. . . towards grafting a brain into Mr. Bush's head!
Why are you wasting your time judging Pflipp? Instead of waiting for Pflipp to practice what he preaches, let's see *you* take the initiative.
I agree with you that there is no such thing as absolute veganism; animal products are shoveled into just about everything today [1]. It's easy to get discouraged and give up. Still, I encourage you to strive for animal rights. Every little bit helps. Jack Norris of Vegan Outreach defines veganism as "an attempt to reduce the intense suffering of non-human animals," which includes "a lifestyle that does not support animal exploitation." [2]
The more research I did, the more products I found that neither included animal products nor were tested on them. If you buy these products, you influence the companies that make them, and indirectly, consumers who see these new products. Here is a directory (among many others) of cruelty-free items and their producers.
Anyway. the important thing is that you go out there and do something.
- Roey Katz
1. For a complete list of chemicals derived from animal products, please see this list
2. "Defining Vegan", by Jack Norris, R.D.
I would think that it would have been more telling to replace the sheep's heart with the pigs. Simply putting the pig's heart on the sheep's neck says little about the functionality or feasibility. Nonetheless, this is promising for the medical community. I'm sure all sorts of other cell swapping will take place besides marrow and spleen cells to figure out which combination of immune system cells reduces the rejection rate the most. Also, if you needed a heart transplant, would they need to take your marrow? Or just and human's? Six months is a long time to wait for that pig to grow when your heart isn't working correctly. I would like to see more research done and more questions answered.
While I in some sense understand you viewpoint, I find it very very very hypocritical. Everyone I know who complains about treating animals with equal rights and consideration as humans, while well intentioned, is misguided.
With the exception of a few species, namley (and I might be missing one or 2 here) Orangotanges, Chimpanze, Whales, Dolphins and Humans, animals are not self aware. This means that they are not entitled to the same consideration as those that are self aware. (For the record, I am against non-consentual medical research involving all these species). In terms of treatment of other animals, any vertibrates have a right to be treated in an ethically humane manner. My collegues like to see suffering as much as the next person. Contrary to the view point of animal crusaders, most of us have pets, and do in fact enjoy animals.
I'm an immunologist who studies immune suppresion, in the hope that my research will lead to a cure for autoimmune diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, Diabities, and graft rejection. In order to perform my experiments, I have to kill cute little furry mice. Do I like this part of my job? NO. If I did, I would be one sick person, killing another living creature is not fun. I do not take it lightly. In fact, because of this I plan my experiments so that I use each animal as effectivly as possible, and induce the least amount of suffering on them. My Aunt suffers from M.S., and will likely die from it, leaving behind a husband and a daughter. You want to compare the life of an animal to that? Now, you are probably thinking... SICK BASTARD. Well, this is what I have to say to all the hippocrates that protest against animal research:
Have you ever used antibiotics? A drug of any type for your health? How do you suppose we cure diseases, minimize HUMAN suffering without animals to perform research on? Do you volonteer? Should we use prison inmates? Grandma? Seriously, grow up. Everyone out there that wants to see a cure for aids... think we're gonna find that with a computer model? Cell culture? Look, animal research isnt perfect, there are lodes of cures for cancer that work in a mouse but not a human. But animal research is one of the first steps in any form of biomedical breakthrough. Everything you take that comes in one of those pop-top child safe bottles was at some point tested on animals. So if you're really against animal research, dont visit a hospital EVER - or your a terrible hippocrate.
Idgrad
"If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, now would it?' -Albert Einstein-