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Teen Takes On Donor's Immune System

Posted by Zonk on from the you-will-be-assimilated dept.

Leibel writes "The Australian ABC News is reporting that a 15-year-old Australian liver transplant patient has defied modern medicine by taking on her donor's immune system. Demi-Lee Brennan had a liver transplant. Nine months later, doctors at Sydney's Westmead Children's Hospital were amazed to find the teenager's blood group had changed to the donor's blood type. They were even more surprised when they found the girl's immune system had almost totally been replaced by that of the donor, meaning she no longer had to take anti-rejection drugs. 'Dr. Michael Stormon says his team is now trying to identify how the phenomenon happened and whether it can be replicated. "That's probably easier said than done... I think it's a long shot," he said. "I think it's a unique system of events whereby this happened. "We postulate there's a number of different issues - the type of liver failure that she had, some of the drugs that we use early on to suppress the immune system and also that she suffered an infection with a virus called CMV, or cytomegalovirus, which can also suppress the immune system."'"

8 of 231 comments (clear)

  1. ob. by russellh · · Score: 5, Funny

    kids these days.

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    must... stay... awake...
  2. She's a MUTIE!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Kill her! Who knows what other powers she might have?

    1. Re:She's a MUTIE!!! by somersault · · Score: 4, Funny

      Not to mention that, when you get right down to it, she probably just committed a DMCA violation of some kind when copying the host's immune system - probably using radiation from her mobile phone (for the digital angle).

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      which is totally what she said
  3. Re:Is she related to Sigorney Weaver? by king-manic · · Score: 3, Funny

    weyland yutani Biotech division.

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    "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
  4. Re:Self-rejection? by KublaiKhan · · Score: 5, Funny

    Perhaps it has something to do with the virus she caught--it suppressed the immune system to the point where it had to 'reboot', as it were, and apparently recognized the new hardware on boot?

    Which would seem to indicate that the immune system BIOS has some kind of PnP support--I guess that'd explain some of the viruses...

    --
    In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
    A stately pleasure dome decree
  5. Re:Self-rejection? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    What the hell kind of car analogy is that?

  6. Re:Self-rejection? by IdeaMan · · Score: 3, Funny

    Dude... "Get out of the car, get back in the car." It's a classic.

    Haven't heard it before? Here goes:
    A mechanical engineer, hydraulic engineer, electrical engineer and a computer programmer were riding together in the car, and it stops. They all get out and look at the car. The mechanical engineer checks the tires, the hydraulic engineer checks the brakes, and the electrical engineer checks the voltage on the battery. The computer programmer goes "Guys cmon, all we gotta do is get out of the car and get back in the car". They get back in the car, it starts right back up and they're on their way.

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    They ARE out to get you simply because They are in it for themselves and they don't care about you.
  7. Re:Self-rejection? by evilviper · · Score: 4, Funny

    I guess it only remains to determine what OS this girl's running...

    Worst... pick-up... line... EVER!

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    Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant