The Military Plans To Regrow Body Parts

Ponca City, We Love You writes "The Department of Defense has announced the creation of the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine to 'harness stem cell research and technology... to reconstruct new skin, muscles and tendons, and even ears, noses and fingers.' The government is budgeting $250 million in public and private money for the project's first five years, and the NIH and three universities will be on the team. The military has been working on regrowing lost body parts using extracellular matrices and scientists in labs have grown blood vessels, livers, bladders, breast implants, and meat and are already growing a new ear for a badly burned Marine using stem cells from his own body. Army Surgeon General Eric Schoomaker explained that our bodies systematically generate liver cells and bone marrow and that this ability can be redirected through 'the right kind of stimulation.' The general cited animals like salamanders that can regrow lost tails or limbs. 'Why can't a mammal do the same thing?' he asked."

Comments

eeeeeeek!

[Whiney Mac Fanboy]

I wonder if they're going to grow that ear on a mouse.

Re:eeeeeeek!

[Johnny5000]

I'm wondering if they're going to be getting that million dollars from PETA.

Re:eeeeeeek!

[Yvanhoe]

They are. Look at the presentation pictures.

Re:eeeeeeek!

[jpellino]

Recall that: that was not a human ear (the cartilage cells were from a cow) and it was in the shape of an ear because it was molded that way, not because any genes in the structure were expressing for "human ear".

It is a neat way to grow cartilaginous body shapes, and isn't a bad starting point.

Re:eeeeeeek!

[cpricejones]

I wonder if they'll get more from Playboy when they start to, ahem, experiment.

Re:eeeeeeek!

[kcelery]

You mean mammal tissue reconstruction?

Re:eeeeeeek!

[somersault]

Yeah, what purpose does the military have in growing all natural 'breast implants'? Licensing it out to the porn industry could be a good source of funding I suppose, but it's not like they need any more money than the US government is throwing at them :s

I think the whole subject of regrowing limbs (or perhaps adding extra ones?) brings a whole new meaning to the term 'Armed Forces' anyway ;)

Re:eeeeeeek!

[MetalPhalanx]

You mean mammary tissue reconstruction? There, fixed that for ya.

Re:eeeeeeek!

[jimicus]

Yeah, what purpose does the military have in growing all natural 'breast implants'? (Note: I'm not a woman, so both the ladies on /. are free to flame me until I resemble a lightly toasted small buffalo.)

Joke all you want, but lots of women are very upset at the prospect of losing all or part of a breast through cancer.

It's not a particularly big leap to apply such concern to losing part of a breast through injuries sustained in combat. And breasts were invented for reasons other than "To give /.'ers something to furiously fwap over", y'know.

In which case, being able to regrow them could prove very helpful for morale amongst injured female soldiers.

Re:eeeeeeek!

[somersault]

I would have thought that it would help morale among the male soldiers too. And possibly fun times injecting mammary growing nanites into fellow officers in the night; male or female, depending on whether you're going for humour or fapworthiness of course

Re:eeeeeeek!

[cpricejones]

I agree they have no purpose in growing breasts unless they were damaged in combat, but that doesn't keep my cynicism about other uses of the technology from cropping up.

I should add that it's fantastic if they can regrow limbs, but can they repair the mental or psychological trauma? This is far more damaging and far less treated anyways ...

Re:eeeeeeek!

[somersault]

I think the only real solution to the mental and psychological trauma is not to go through it in the first place. Not very practical, but otherwise the only solution would be precision removal of the experience from your memory.. but other parts of your brain other than your memory will have been scarred too - you can't just take a full backup of someone's brain before a war and then restore it afterwards. Well, maybe someday we will be able to, but when we have that level of technological sophistication, why not just put the copy of the brain into a robot and let it do all the work?

For example these recently started 'wars' in Afghanistan and Iraq really weren't exactly 'necessary' were they? The need for war these days isn't really there (in my opinion and observations). A lot of countries are well past that phase, having learnt a lot in the World Wars, and developing friendlier trade and political relations (the internet surely is helping to create friendlier relations between countries too, just by breaking down communication barriers). There are of course still countries like North Korea (and to an extent Iraq, but I don't think it really posed a significant threat to the country which actually attacked it) which pose a possible threat to the surrounding nations with Nuclear or biochemical tech. War with these countries may be the only option if they have declared agressive intentions.. but I don't think that Afghanistan and Iraq were much of a threat to the US at all, and the invasions were all about politics and resources, rather than fighting to defend ourselves or an ally against an aggressor. Personally I think that's the only situation that I'd choose to fight. I was considering joining the armed forces just to get myself fit and more disciplined (I have a gross disrespect for basically all authority, which isn't really doing me any favours), but as for helping out in Afghanistan/Iraq or something, I just don't agree with it..

Re:eeeeeeek!

[cpricejones]

I think the only real solution to the mental and psychological trauma is not to go through it in the first place. Not very practical, but otherwise the only solution would be precision removal of the experience from your memory..

But is the military investing in those sorts of options? I dont know. I wonder if they are only considering "cosmetic" rehabilitation because it benefits them the most. I don't know how the funding is assessed, but I remember seeing a Frontline episode by PBS that emphasized the lack of attention to psychological issues. An able body is no good to a disabled mind, and it's probably more expensive in the long run to pay attention to the soldiers' mental health.

Re:eeeeeeek!

[somersault]

As I was saying though, simply erasing a memory isn't going to do the trick. I watched a presentation linked last week here on /. about 'happiness', and one of the points the guy talked about was an experiment on people who had lost the ability to form new memories. Even though they couldn't form new ones, they could still change their aesthetic preferences and such (in this case by being given a painting, and the fact that they owned it made them consider it more aesthetically pleasing, so next time they were shown it they liked it better, even though they no longer remembered that it was given to them as a gift). So you can't really remove the damage done by a traumatic event, even if you can't remember the event itself - though I suppose you could stop people from dwelling on it or having nightmares about it at least..

Re:eeeeeeek!

[TheWolfen]

Well said! I see no reason why any (err.. either) woman would want to flame you for this. Note: I am a guy but my sister is a breast cancer survivor and, FWIW, I completely agree with your comments.

Re:eeeeeeek!

[philspear]

Or maybe they have and figure the action sequences in that were awesome enough to risk the superpowered red cloaked terrorists and terrible overacting.

Re:eeeeeeek!

[philspear]

A thought provoking little bit of trolling right there. Like right now, I'm thinking "why would someone waste their time like this?"

Re:eeeeeeek!

[MikeDirnt69]

No, they will spam you over Penis Enlargement...

Re:eeeeeeek!

[ArAgost]

I was wondering if the guy from the BME pain olympics final round could do... another round. [Disclaimer Note: mentioned above is a shock video of a man mutilating his own genitalia. Please, think of the kittens and don't go looking for it. You would most likely regret it.]

Re:eeeeeeek!

[ArAgost]

Yeah, something like... uhm... a belly button?

Re:eeeeeeek!

[htnprm]

I came to say the same thing, found you already said it (Well done Sir), and find your getting modded as a troll?!?!? FFS. Sorry America. You deserve to have your economy flushed down the toilet if someone criticising these shams is labelled a troll. Keep talking about growing breast implants. I guess intelligent conversation has left Slashdot.

Re:eeeeeeek!

[somersault]

Aye, the troll thing is confusing me, glad someone else agrees at least!

Re:eeeeeeek!

[extrasolar]

Hahah, I mean, holy shit that is gross and chauvinistic. :O

One *little* thing

[damburger]

Being able to do something and being willing to pay for it are two seperate things. Just because the military is pioneering this research doesn't mean they are going to make it available for free to the young men and women they are responsible for maiming. They could just try and make a profit from it.

Furthermore, 300,000 soldiers are coming back from Iraq with some kind of mental disorder. You can't grow a new happy mind in a petri dish.

Re:One *little* thing

[chuckymonkey]

I will say this about the military, and I would know as I was deployed to Iraq twice in the Army. The medical care is not bad and you don't pay for it while you're in the military. There are a lot of amputees out there with top notch prosthesis and they didn't pay a dime for them. Yes, there are a lot of horror stories about how bad the military can treat its wounded, and yes most of those are pretty true. The thing is though that they are actually a small percentage. Another thing that's cool about the military is that they are really good about pushing state of the art in medicine. Anything to keep wounded troops alive. Fake blood? Tested in the military. High speed care? Military. So on so forth. Oh and no they can't make you happy. I know, I have to live with that every damn day.

Re:One *little* thing

[BlowHole666]

From one slashdotter to another, thank you for serving.

Re:One *little* thing

[CRCulver]

The medical care is not bad and you don't pay for it while you're in the military.

I served in the Navy and I think the military care was terrible. There were never enough doctors, the facilities were old and badly maintained, and the staff had no bedside manner because I guess actually acting like you care about the patient is against military discipline or whatever. FWIW, it's not a problem of "free" medicine. I now live in Finland, where the medical care is also basically, but doctors are actually pleasant to visit.

Yes, there are a lot of horror stories about how bad the military can treat its wounded, and yes most of those are pretty true. The thing is though that they are actually a small percentage.

I think most of the protest is against how the military treats veterans after they have been discharged but who still bear the scars of military experience. VA hospitals are not happy places, and VA benefits can be hard to win.

Re:One *little* thing

[CRCulver]

Sorry, that should have read ...basically free....

Re:One *little* thing

[CastrTroy]

The military gives some of the best prosthetics around to their maimed soldiers. They certainly get a lot better limbs than most other amputees can afford. I agree with you about the mental stresses of war, and how they are pretty much irreversible, but they do as well as they can on the physical healing side. Feel from to correct me if I am wrong, but from what I have seen, the limb replacement initiatives for the US military are about as good as you could hope for, apart from not losing the limb at all.

Re:One *little* thing

[Ucklak]

Lobotomy, lobotomy, lobotomy, lobotomy!
DDT did a job on me
Now I am a real sickie
Guess I'll have to break the news
That I got no mind to lose
All the girls are in love with me
I'm a teenage lobotomy

Slugs and snails are after me
DDT keeps me happy
Now I guess I'll have to tell 'em
That I got no cerebellum
Gonna get my Ph.D.
I'm a teenage lobotomy

Re:One *little* thing

[pipatron]

You can't grow a new happy mind in a petri dish.

Why not?

Re:One *little* thing

[kabocox]

Being able to do something and being willing to pay for it are two seperate things. Just because the military is pioneering this research doesn't mean they are going to make it available for free to the young men and women they are responsible for maiming. They could just try and make a profit from it.

Furthermore, 300,000 soldiers are coming back from Iraq with some kind of mental disorder. You can't grow a new happy mind in a petri dish.

Calling all/most returning soldiers having mental disorders/problems is very low. (Just because they have a wider world view than you and have different political beliefs is no reason to call them names.)

The military isn't responsible for maiming their own soldiers. It's the enemy that is. So we should just present Iraq or who ever we declare as the enemy with the bill for regen on all our soldiers.

You seem weak in critical thinking, but its far more likely that they'll charge you a nonveteran an arm and a leg for this stuff so veterans can get it for free. (Well "free" to the veterans. You'll be paying out the ...) The other choice is we all pay higher taxes for increased V.A. Benefits that now include regen. That'll pass in two heart beats. No republican or democrat would want to ever be the person that voted against radical health improvements for veterans.

Re:One *little* thing

[91degrees]

Just because the military is pioneering this research doesn't mean they are going to make it available for free to the young men and women they are responsible for maiming.

On the other hand, if they can put someone's leg back on, they might be happy that they once again have an active, trained, soldier.

Furthermore, 300,000 soldiers are coming back from Iraq with some kind of mental disorder. You can't grow a new happy mind in a petri dish.

Yes, but not doing this wouldn't help them either. And mental problems can't be solved by throwing money at them, whereas this looks like the sort of problem that can.

Re:One *little* thing

[whereareweheadedto]

I think nobody here will deny that military care during active duty is one of the finest. But once you leave service, you are worse off than other civilians without medical history. If you compare figures for homelessnes, poverty, suicide rates you'll see that veterans are underprivileged in the very society that used to praise them. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/us/22suicide.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin This is a NY Times article talking about suicide prevention, that is still in natal phase as far as efficiency is concerned. I'm afraid you have to login to read, but if you perform a web search, you'll find a lot of references. Also, there is a class action lawsuit out there, that has to do with lack of care for veterans. It's mentioned in the article, but there should be plenty references elsewhere, too. I've been following american wars closely and military is quite eager to heal physical wounds, that are visible and grueling. Your parent post was dead on, when it mentioned mental disorders. Those are the most dangerous and not taken care of sufficiently.

Re:One *little* thing

[damburger]

I get modded troll for making a valid point and this joker gets modded insightful for not knowing what I'm referring to when I say 300,000 troops have mental disorders?

Go educate yourself, fucking moron:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080418/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/troops_mental_health

After displaying a horrific ignorance and having that ignorance mistaken as insight by lobotomised moderators, you then go on to accuse me of politicising the issue. Fuck you, twat face. I wasn't talking about people coming back with conservative beliefs, I was talking about people coming back with PTSD.

Re:One *little* thing

[HisMother]

The military isn't responsible for maiming their own soldiers. It's the enemy that is. So we should just present Iraq or who ever we declare as the enemy with the bill for regen on all our soldiers. That's like me throwing eggs at my neighbor's house, then asking him to pay for the eggs because, you know, it was their house they broke against.

Re:One *little* thing

[somersault]

Petri dishes are too small - you need a decent sized brain jar if you want to grow brains!

Re:One *little* thing

[dintech]

Mod up parent. If the GP had done even the smallest amount of reading, none of his stupidity needed to be read...

Re:One *little* thing

[AioKits]

I think most of the protest is against how the military treats veterans after they have been discharged but who still bear the scars of military experience. VA hospitals are not happy places, and VA benefits can be hard to win.

Too true. My father (a vietnam vet) makes extensive use of the VA facilities and army hospitals. I have know these many army hospitals and VA facilities to try their best but they are seriously understaffed and at times underpowered or even worse. By 'even worse' I mean that prior to my dad's liver transplant he was ejecting blood from both ends (sorry for the mental image), I had taken him to a army hospital and it was THREE HOURS in a barely packed ER room (there were perhaps 2 other patients to be seen when we got there and none arriving for the time during) before he was even admitted! Meanwhile I'm thinking the worst case scenario and trying to keep the poor man comforted as he becomes a macabre fountain. I just started yelling my head off, berating the nurses and doctors. I know this was inappropriate, but I mean you sit there thinking you're watching your father die, and meanwhile nothing happens, you raise hell.

He was on a transplant list at the time. I had lucked out because he was caught 'just in time' after they finally admitted him. If it had been any longer we would have had his funeral a decade ago.

Fast forward to now. He's got a liver transplant, a glacostomy *sp?* bag, blood transfusions, pneumonia, colon cancer... I could go on but the list is quite large. He goes to a VA facility for his treatments, and for the most part it is better than it was a decade ago. There are still issues however. Conflicting doctor's assessments, slow medication, misplaced medical files. He has 100% disability due to the transplant, replaced discs/fused vertebra (5,6,7) and for several other things related to duty related injury. He has had to fight almost yearly now to keep it at 100% as they keep wanting to drop it to 40% or lower. It's a nightmare each time. Once after some prolonged court action, they gave him 100% and admitted they had gotten his records mixed up with another persons!

As a military brat, I got to use their hospitals for free. I had surgery on my hand at one. It was the only time I have ever heard a doctor say 'oops' during a surgery. As a result I couldn't lower my hand below shoulder level or blood would drain into my fingertips and become very painful. I looked like a friggen bandaged hitler youth most the time.

Re:One *little* thing

[chaim79]

You have problems, anger issues and so forth...

Also, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is common to ALL wars/police actions/cops shootout with drug dealers/etc. just look at the name "Post TRAUMATIC", any traumatic event (where life is threatened) can trigger this, it's just the soldier in war who gets most of it because they regularly go into circumstances where their life is threatened. I've known several soldiers with light PTSD, you just don't make any sudden noises/moves around them and you're all good. That article on yahoo can best be described as "DUH".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_traumatic_stress_disorder

Re:One *little* thing

[AioKits]

Crap, put one extra space in the start and it cut out my first line of comment... I still suck at posting!

Re:One *little* thing

[Alpha830RulZ]

Um, the generals didn't decide to go put the soldiers into harm's way. Bush and Cheney did. The record is quite clear that the brass thought and think that going into Iraq was a mistake. The forces were -ordered- to go, and they went, because that's what military forces do, follow their orders.

I don't hold the services responsible for the wounded. That is the responsibility of the Administration, and Congress, and the american people for tolerating our misbegotten government.

Re:One *little* thing

[mckinnsb]

You seem weak in critical thinking, but its far more likely that they'll charge you a nonveteran an arm and a leg for this stuff so veterans can get it for free. (Well "free" to the veterans. You'll be paying out the ...) The other choice is we all pay higher taxes for increased V.A. Benefits that now include regen. That'll pass in two heart beats. No republican or democrat would want to ever be the person that voted against radical health improvements for veterans.
I agree that not every soldier is necessarily "insane" after they leave war- but is it totally beyond the realm of the feasible that some of them *might* need a little therapy afterwards? No. Most people would be supportive of Veterans receiving the care they need- be it physical or mental, or even if it includes groundbreaking technologies such as tissue regeneration.

Unless, of course, you happen to be Senator John McCain, who has voted against Veteran health spending in the past. Which Senate votes? These: 2006 Senate Vote #7, 2/2/06; 2005 Senate Vote #343, 11/17/05; 2003 Senate Vote #74, 3/21/03; 2006 Senate Vote #67, 3/16/2006; 2006 Senate Vote #98, 4/26/06; 2007 Senate Vote #76, 3/15/07;

Particularly interesting is 2006 Senate Vote #98, 4/26/06, where McCain was only one of 13 Republicans that opposed increased spending for Veterans in the form of medical outpatient care. That usually involves physical and mental therapy. Generally helps the recovery process of enduring wounds in war.

Also, he doesn't seem to think they deserve educational reimbursement after being in a war: check out this video

Re:One *little* thing

[FrozenFOXX]

While I will not disagree at all with your second point I know I had absolutely no trouble with the Air Force medical care. Great facilities at several bases, had zero issues getting transferred to a different facility for a procedure the one I was at was not equipped for, and with only one exception both my wife and I had some of the greatest doctors anyone in either of our families had ever even heard of.

Like everything else, it really depends on where you are, branch of service, and so forth.

Re:One *little* thing

[ultranova]

Just because the military is pioneering this research doesn't mean they are going to make it available for free to the young men and women they are responsible for maiming.

Deserving of suspicion if not outright paranoia as any branch of the US Government might be, I honestly can't think of any reason besides treating their own wounded the US Army could possibly be wanting this technology for.

They could just try and make a profit from it.

Who might ? The US Army is publicly funded and doesn't need to make a profit. Furthermore, AFAIK your typical grunt joins an army to get money for college, so it's not like they could afford to pay much for this regeneration thing. And while there are civilian amputees too, there aren't many and they tend to not be particularly rich, especially since not having a healthy body obviously limits your job opportunities.

But even assuming that this is all part of some particularly stupid conspiracy, it's still research that will propably end up benefiting mankind, so what's the problem ?

Furthermore, 300,000 soldiers are coming back from Iraq with some kind of mental disorder. You can't grow a new happy mind in a petri dish.

Maybe, but getting your arms and legs back is better than nothing, no ?

Re:One *little* thing

[TheWolfen]

Well.. medical care for injured vets is supposed to be free. Then again, the VA consistently screwed over my dad (injured in WWII) so I suppose you never know.

Re:One *little* thing

[TheWolfen]

I'll add my thanks to you for serving as well. Every service man and woman is a hero in my book.

Re:One *little* thing

[Anonymous Coward]

From an Iraqi Slashdotter, stay out of my country.

Re:One *little* thing

[philspear]

How very insightful indeed.

Re:One *little* thing

[marnues]

Yes its obvious and common that soldiers will have PTSD. But please do not trivialize it. This is a major problem with our soldiers past and present. My best friend will never be the guy I knew in high school again. Which is not completely a bad thing. He gained a lot from the military. But he is not fitting back into society very easily. This is most certainly a very big problem for him and all soldiers of first world countries where social norms do not mess with battle-hardened minds.

Re:One *little* thing

[scatters]

It's pretty harsh to say that a soldier who comes back from a combat theater physically or mentally maimed deserved what they got because they signed up in the last 10 years. The nation will always need a military (at least, history suggests that this will continue to be the case), and the military will continue to need flesh and blood soldiers for the foreseeable future.
Soldiers sign up for a variety of reasons, some for economic reasons, some for the adventure/thrill, and some for patriotic reasons, and while I agree that every soldier who enlisted in the last 10 years should have done so with the expectation that there was a high likelyhood of seeing combat and experiencing high cost that comes with it, that's a far cry from saying that he or she deserves the results. I'm also certain that very few potential recruits head down to their local recruiting office to fulfill his or her lifelong ambition to support the Military Industrial Complex.

The reality is that combat is a young man's game; the old men do the thinking, the young men do the fighting. Without a continual influx of new recruits over the last ten years, militarily, we'd be fucked.

Re:One *little* thing

[chaim79]

You are right... I shouldn't trivialize it, sorry about that.

The point I was trying to make is that this is not something new to the Iraq war but something common to all wars and to events outside of war. The yahoo article quoted by the person I was replying to implied (at least to me) that this was a major problem of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, may have been reading that wrong but hey...

Re:One *little* thing

[chuckymonkey]

Yes they are among the best at limb replacement. Injured soldiers often times get experimental designs too. The medical field really is great about sending beta version drugs and things to the battlefield too. As I said synthetic blood, quick clot, better tourniquets, among many other things. Medicine is not my profession so I really don't know all of the stuff, just what I remember seeing in use. I would also like to mention that medics and doctors in the military are amazing. A lot of people don't realize this but a medic has no legal right to defend him/herself in combat, they can only defend their patients. I've also see people survive horrific injuries thanks to the quick way they go about treating people. One prime example is during my first tour of the desert we had a woman drive through the gate into the compound while under fire with a chuck of metal rammed through her abdomen and her left leg damned near severed. Yes she drove into the gate then promptly passed out after getting into somewhat safety. Thankfully we had a medivac helicopter standing by, from what I know she not only survived that, but came out mostly functional.

        The mental stresses are reversible, just much harder to treat. I'm lucky in that I didn't have to seek out a professional because my wife is an incredible woman that has stood by me through the worst times. That and I have two little girls that need a daddy so I'm not about to let my own mind get in the way of being a good father to them. Really the best healing for the mind is to talk to someone about it, that's the problem too. Unless you've been there, you don't understand a thing about it so most don't talk to anyone. The wife wouldn't let me get away with that. Anyway they can be treated, you never fully recover, but you can lead a normal life.

Re:One *little* thing

[AP31R0N]

No, you're supposed to call him a puppy kicking orphan killer and a willing pawn in W's evil scheme for world domination.

Or is that Fark?

Re:One *little* thing

[fastest fascist]

The military isn't responsible for maiming their own soldiers. It's the enemy that is. So we should just present Iraq or who ever we declare as the enemy with the bill for regen on all our soldiers. That's been done at least since the time of the Roman empire... It's called war reparations, and it's an excellent plan: Invade a country on some pretense or another, run amok for a while and when you're good and done, present the invaded party a bill for damages incurred.

Re:One *little* thing

[kehren77]

Petri dishes are too small - you need a decent sized brain jar if you want to grow brains!

Are you trying to imply that our military is made of up "jarheads"?

Re:One *little* thing

[Viperpete]

I agree 100% with parent. I served in the Navy from 2000-2004 and from my experience the doctors and dentists that graduated with "C" averages migrate to government and military work as the pay for them is higher then regular officers in order to "compensate" for the money "lost" to them for not working in the civilian sector, notwithstanding that they are doctors/dentists that got poor grades, therefore, would have difficulty making the higher wages that doctors in private practice would make as they would not be able to stay out of libel court or maintaining their position at a hospital or clinic. Whereas military doctors have a captive constant source of work that cannot sue them personally for libel or malpractice. Beside the perk of being able to defer a lot of the work to Hospital Corpsmen who have a lot more power to prescribe drugs and perform procedures that would normally not be given to EMTs, nurses and care technicians in the civilian sector without having to consult with an actual doctor or doctor of pharmacy. http://www.usmilitary.com/2008MilitaryPayChart.pdf Page 9 of 9 has the medical compensation. Note that this does not include yearly bonuses and re-contracting bonuses they get that can be exceptionally high. I do appreciate their contribution to this country but they are by far not the "Best and Brightest" or else they would be in private practice.

Re:One *little* thing

[T.E.D.]

After displaying a horrific ignorance and having that ignorance mistaken as insight by lobotomised moderators, you then go on to accuse me of politicising the issue. F**k you, tw*t face. I wasn't talking about people coming back with conservative beliefs, I was talking about people coming back with PTSD.

I have a soccer teammate who came back from Iraq with PTSD about 3 years ago. He seems to get a bit better every year, but we all still have to constantly watch out for him.

Generally I find it annoying when someone tries to dismiss the existence of problems that are politically inconvenient to their own personal views. In this particular instance its not annoying though, its morally reprehensible. I don't care what your politics are. If 90% of us aren't gonna sacrifice a damn thing for this wonderful war we are fighting, the least we can do is take care of and pay attention to those very few who do. Otherwise, shut your pie-hole, grab an M-16, and go over there yourself, Mr. Sunshine and Light.

If anything, the above post doesn't have enough f-words.

Two of these things are not like the others

[BadAnalogyGuy]

blood vessels, livers, bladders, breast implants, and meat

Really? I didn't think that people lost breast implants in accidents very often.

Re:Two of these things are not like the others

[alx5000]

They just want to win PETA's award... with a classy touch, maybe.

Re:Two of these things are not like the others

[nawcom]

hehe. last time I checked, breast implants are completely artificial. If they have invented natural growing breast implants, let my girlfriend know about it!

*BR-BR-BR-BR-BR-BR-BRONSKI!!!!"

Re:Two of these things are not like the others

[MichaelSmith]

blood vessels, livers, bladders, breast implants, and meat

Really? I didn't think that people lost breast implants in accidents very often. Well if the seat belt doesn't hold it back in a crash...

Interestingly the Australian Navy does pay for breast implants on occasions.

Re:Two of these things are not like the others

[Wylfing]

The battlefield of the future is going to be quite different.

Re:Two of these things are not like the others

[Yvan256]

Now that's a wave of destruction that's easy on the eyes! - Zapp

Re:Two of these things are not like the others

[maxume]

Perhaps people lose breasts in accidents and would like a cosmetic replacement that uses their own tissues, rather than something synthetic?

Re:Two of these things are not like the others

[eth1]

Not accidents, but breast cancer

Re:Two of these things are not like the others

[gbjbaanb]

I believe they do have all-natural growing breasts. You need some special material to make them though:

1. beer, lots of it.
2. kebabs, lots of them
3. pizza. yup, lots.

you get the idea :)

I've no idea who Bronski is, but I'm guessing you're not referring to Bronski Beat.

Re:Two of these things are not like the others

[jollyreaper]

Really? I didn't think that people lost breast implants in accidents very often. No, but a woman can get her tits blown off, the same as a foot or hand or face. Imagine how a guy would feel with his nuts blown off, that doesn't even show when dressed. A woman without her breasts not only feels disfigured, she'll look it as well. I bet you'd find guys would rather have suffer a disfiguring face injury than lose their nuts. People are sensitive about this sort of stuff.

Re:Two of these things are not like the others

[marnues]

Now come on mods. That was damn funny!

Re:Two of these things are not like the others

[Yvan256]

Oh well, at least one person got the reference.

Thanks!

They are missing some Key information

[Missing_dc]

Can we make some of the parts BIGGER when they are grown?

I can see a HUGE market for this.

and maybe a career in PR0N.

Re:They are missing some Key information

[jnadke]

Can we make some of the parts BIGGER when they are grown?

I can see a HUGE market for this.

and maybe a career in PR0N.

Trim your post a bit SMALLER and you might have gotten +5 Funny.

A LITTLE overzealous with the innuendos, huh?

One might say the third was OVERCOMPENSATING for the first two.

In the future battlefield...

[javilon]

Mmmmm, I thought I had already killed that one...

Re:In the future battlefield...

[weber]

If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!

Re:In the future battlefield...

[deander2]

he must be a skin-job. =P

Re:In the future battlefield...

[Thanshin]

If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine! But you'll also have much bigger breasts. Die!

What's next?

[SickHumour]

Adamantium skeletons?

Re:What's next?

[Thanshin]

Adamantium skeletons? Let's hope it's not a belt with gadgets and a bat shaped boomerang.

Re:What's next?

[SailorSpork]

And while you're regrowing my metal claws, I want you to regrow my prehensile tail. I swear I lost it in the war.

Re:What's next?

[dwye]

> Adamantium skeletons?

Only if the soldier already regrows his own tissue so fast that losing all his bone marrow doesn't slow him down. I.e., Wolverine was Wolverine even before they gave him real claws.

Hulk smash

[ChowRiit]

..isn't this the plot from The Hulk?

Re:Hulk smash

[Recovering Hater]

I don't know about that but Dr. Conners A.K.A "Lizardman" thought the very same thing in The Amazing Spiderman and look how things turned out for that guy.

Re:Hulk smash

[techpawn]

Lizardman? Doc Conners was called "The Lizard".... And if he has his meds he kept his transformation under control... of courses that meant he lost the ability to regrow his arm.

Re:Hulk smash

[IRGlover]

Sounds more like someone in the military is a big fan of Dolph Lundgren/Jean Claude Van Damme co-starring vehicles: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105698/

Bang Bang

[Fixerbob]

...Oh well, time for a trip to the respawning tank...

What about brains?

[drerwk]

Brain injuries are one of the bigger problems now that survival of concussive blasts is so much better. And if you can put in new brain cells; can you give a person their personality back?

Re:What about brains?

[MichaelSmith]

Brain injuries are one of the bigger problems now that survival of concussive blasts is so much better. And if you can put in new brain cells; can you give a person their personality back? Only if they made backups.

Re:What about brains?

[nawcom]

Using stem cells to repair brain damage is experimental at the moment. As to using it to restore personality - it would depend on what you mean.

For example, when people lose their personality due to Alzheimer's disease, the location to where their personality is stored isnt damaged per-say, they end up losing synaptic connections between the neurons and neurofibrillary tangles start to develop. If these were restored through stem cells, the personality is restored.

So I guess what I'm saying is that as long as where personality is stored isn't physically destroyed, and studies in neuron restoration improve, it can be possible to give their personalities back.

Re:What about brains?

[hulye]

The solution would be to recruit only people without brain... What do you say? That it was allways a criteria? So, what is the problem?

Re:What about brains?

[seanonymous]

That's not a problem, since the personality is removed during boot camp.

Re:What about brains?

[TooMuchToDo]

I constantly backup to the resurrection ship you insensitive clod! =)

(with apologies to BSG)

Re:What about brains?

[Saxerman]

And on that topic, "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" is a novel by Cory Doctorow that has been featured on /. before because it's available as a free download and contains such topics as brain backups and growing new bodies to load them. I found it a fun read.

BRB

[HetMes]

When you join the military, stemcells are harvested from your body, and a brainless clone is grown in an Antarctic lab. "I lost and arm, BRB -> Antarctica"

Re:BRB

[Joey Vegetables]

That explains how we got the federal government . . . they must all have been manufactured in that same Antarctic lab.

WooHoo!!

[Capt James McCarthy]

Does this mean that when this is perfected, I will be able to live as long as my bank account can afford it? It may be like maintaining your car. New heart every 60 years, new lungs every 70 years, new nerves at around 50 years, new skin every 30 years, new eyes every 40 years, new glands every 30 years, new joints every 30 years,...etc...etc.. They better get humping since I'm running out of time.

Re:WooHoo!!

[ShadowsHawk]

Who would want to live forever? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy life. Somehow, I expect it would get extremely dull after a while.

Re:WooHoo!!

[Psion]

I would. There's too much to do in this world for one lifetime. Especially when you're a procrastinator from the start. Plus, I want to see the future ... the first manned Mars landing. The first interstellar probe. The singularity. Who knows what else. Just because you're happy with a handful of years and a geological instant, doesn't mean everyone else is.

Re:WooHoo!!

[Eccles]

Who would want to live forever?

Seems to me a lot of religions are centered around achieving eternal life.

(See Matthew 19:16-17; Mark 10:17-19; Luke 18:18-20 for Christianity, for example.)

While I agree eternal life sounds like more than I'd want, I think I could tolerate living a few hundred or even a few thousand years. After all, I want to play Duke Nukem Forever one day!

Re:WooHoo!!

[grassy_knoll]

Prior art:
http://www.amazon.com/Altered-Carbon-Richard-K-Morgan/dp/0345457684

PS: No, not a paid referrer link.

Re:WooHoo!!

[dwye]

> Who would want to live forever?

Accidents will get you, eventually. Someone (I forget who) calculated a few years ago that perfect long-term medical care and a total absence of disease just raises the Average Life Expectancy to about 400 years. Less if cancer cannot be cured, just treated (especially brain cancers).

Anyway, you could always refuse extraordinary measures, even when they have become as ordinary as hydration and intravenous feeding is now.

Re:WooHoo!!

[Angstroem]

Go, speak for yourself.

Just because *you* are bored with your current existence and don't know how to fill another livespan doesn't mean others will feel the same.

I'd definitely welcome a society of eternal life, because that means that people will need to drive away from current quarter-based, short-term oriented thinking. Instead, the long-term perspective becomes focus again, therefore potentially leading to real breakthrough as opposed to "look, this mobile phone now comes in fluff and it even has a camera attached!" kind of technological advantages.

Also, we then *desperately* need to find a way to (a) optimize our resource use (harvesting e=mc^2 instead of just burning oil) and (b) spread to other planets, at least spread over our solar system. Both things I've been told as a kid to be lucky to experience by Y2K -- still, I await that badly to happen.

They probably don't fit into a quarter-based revenue plan...

Plus, by not aging conventionally, I may be able to decide to learn something entirely new every 20, 30 years when my previous occupation starts to bore me.

So why again do you think somewhat eternal life will become dull? There's so much to see.

Besides, you'll always have the option of riding the Suicide Booth.

Re:WooHoo!!

[glasshalfemptylc]

I wouldn't count on your bank account being able to afford it. Think about how much it costs just for pills today...

Re:WooHoo!!

[Discoflamingo13]

At what point does it kick in for a normal person? IANAMB (I am not a molecular biologist), but there is a truism that the human body replaces all of its cells every seven years. I would be interested in finding out what the state of the research on this truly is.

Re:WooHoo!!

[ShadowsHawk]

I never said that I was currently bored, but I expect that I would be eventually. There is only so much media (books, movies, live entertainment) to consume and traveling will eventually become repetitive.

You really believe that a longer perspective would make people CARE about the environment and the rest of humanity? Perhaps I've grown too pessimistic, but I have little hope for the general population.

You really want to go to work every day for the next N years? Even if I had a great job, I still wouldn't want go to work every day. Dealing office politics, meetings, clients, etc is not my idea of a wonderful eternity.

As for this great vision of eternal life, it all lies on the assumption that your mind will stay sharp and intact. Can you imagine an eternal life locked in the body of an Alzheimers patient?

Re:WooHoo!!

[cyphercell]

Nah, I think it will be the richest folks that live the longest. Just another way for the man to keep you down. The rich folks will also be a lot less likely to fall off of ladders and such, so while the 400 years is probably an accurate age for the current average human, I don't think it reflects the typical ages of someone that can hire poor people to do dangerous things like cross the street and go to the store for them.

Re:WooHoo!!

[TooMuchToDo]

Ahh! So I'm not the only person who feels the same way. W00t.

Re:WooHoo!!

[geekoid]

Me.
In fact, I want to be alive longer then I am dead!

I would settle for only being able to die under extreme physical trauma.

Look at this way, if I get truly 'done it all', 'seen it all' and completely bored, I can kill myself, but once I'm dead, that's it. Can't change my mind letter.

Re:WooHoo!!

[absorbr]

I'm actually going to quit my engineering job in the next couple of years to go back to school as an undergrad for molecular cell biology in order to get into exactly this field! :)

If we can live 200, 300 or 1000 years, shouldn't we be working on that before we work on the sciences that actually take that long to understand? Besides, one of the biggest problems with the "cycle" of life is that you always start out without knowledge. To be able to rely on 100's of years of experiences would result in amazing discoveries (and art, for that matter..). We might actually live to see those jet packs!

Even if I didn't live long enough to advance the science beyond the age-defying "escape velocity," at least my efforts to improve humanity went beyond mindlessly working in a cubicle to make some guys rich. In case anyone reads this, and in case they read it as though I am looking down on others -- understand that I only recently believed that the science is possible. /looking forward to centuries of life!

Re:WooHoo!!

[absorbr]

The idea is to live young; that is, there is no reason for cells to die other than the damage that they undergo. THere are many circumstances to consider, and obviously there are people racing to find solutions to neuron degradation. Curing Alzheimers is a HUGE potential market, and you can be certain that it will happen.

Anyway if the passion is there, the solutions will be found. Obviously all aspects of the body will need attention. There really aren't that many people who absolutely claim this can't be done, and the number of interested people is increasing.

To respond to your other points -- don't people become more wise as they age, in general? An old population would *have* to have fewer children as a rule. How you get to that point is a social problem to be solved, but assuming it will be solved (as there will be no choice), then the percentage of the population that is young of mind will be very small. That would solve a lot of problems right there.

As for being happy in your job.. You have to be inspired. If you are not inspired, you should change. It's your responsibility. Besides, if you're that much of a pessimist -- no one would force you take the therapy to live longer! If you were faced with having to live for hundreds of years, *obviously* you're going to be forced to structure your life into a form that is acceptable to you. Work for a couple of years doing something you love (hint: the best jobs involve learning), then take a year off. Don't be buying new cars every couple of years, bring actual value to the economy and don't waste your money on short-term antidepressants. Don't be selfish, think about what we could be as a society! We are social creatures. Living longer would serve to reinforce that truth.

Re:WooHoo!!

[absorbr]

put your time where your mouth is then! get into biology and help advance this noble effort!

Re:WooHoo!!

[TooMuchToDo]

Getting wealthy in IT, then dumping the cash into bioresearch. It'll be faster than me relearning the wheel while others are already working on the problems.

Re:WooHoo!!

[svvampy]

I've never thought of the possibility of multiple singularities, but now that you mention it I'd want to hold out for singularity 2.1. My guess is that the initial alpha would discourage future releases.

Re:WooHoo!!

[Angstroem]

To respond to your other points -- don't people become more wise as they age, in general? An old population would *have* to have fewer children as a rule. How you get to that point is a social problem to be solved, but assuming it will be solved (as there will be no choice), then the percentage of the population that is young of mind will be very small. That would solve a lot of problems right there.

I'm not exactly sure why an old population needs to have fewer children and why a small population "young of mind" would solve a lot of problems.

We only need to restrict ourselves to "only replace died old farts by kids" if we restrict ourselves to this planet. There should be plenty more out there, but since we right here, right now don't have an immediate benefit (i.e. next quarter revenue) stuff like colonizing the solar system or coming up with a sensible way of space travel are not problems where lots of money is thrown at.

While I agree that aged people tend to grow somewhat wiser, thinking more carefully and maybe also holistic, on the other hand a lot of older people grow unimpressed up to plain stubborn, leading to a "no, that can't be done, otherwise it would have been done already" kind of thinking.

The young mind, however, is stubborn on its own -- in a creative way: "Tell me what you want, I think it can be done and I'll prove ya."

It surely takes a certain level of education until "proper" research may start, but I think there's a reason why breakthroughs usually require lots of PhDs. Young of mind, educated enough, but not old enough to already think on established tracks.

Hmm. Transexuals?

[splutty]

I wonder if this can be used to grow certain bodyparts that transexuals for a very obvious reason are missing.. Not entirely sure whether you can mess around enough to be able to do that, but it would be very interesting to see if it's possible.

Re:Hmm. Transexuals?

[JamesP]

Actually, more important is what's remaining, not what is missing...

Re:Hmm. Transexuals?

[BlackPignouf]

I tried this before, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone!

see http://bp0.blogger.com/_PkdazQ4sRLY/RzJXv0odEGI/AAAAAAAAByA/euxVapQwx6E/s1600/costumes_penises.jpg

Re:Hmm. Transexuals?

[TheVelvetFlamebait]

Yeah! Any word on that?

What? Oh, it's just I have a friend, y'know, who, er, might be interested...

Re:Hmm. Transexuals?

[splutty]

Maybe you took 'grow some balls!' a bit too literally?

Re:Hmm. Transexuals?

[Loki_1929]

Which, if it becomes popular among them, could trigger guys and women to break down a lot of romance in favor of demanding a bloodtest (eg Gattaca) in order to determine whether their new love interest is who (and what) they claim to be.

Yes, I understand the appeal to transexuals. I can only hope they have the self-restraint not to use such a thing.

Mrs. Garrison --- Mr. Garrison

[Anonymous Coward]

Mr. Garrison already did this. He grew a new penis for himself on a lab mouse cause he wanted to change back to a man again. The hard part was catching the little fucker. It kept escaping him and scared all the women around town. (You would think a woman would be delighted to see a runaway penis).

tour of duty

[sveard]

get shot up, get repaired, get sent back in

good for morale :)

Re:tour of duty

[Patrik_AKA_RedX]

You people wanted recycling, you people got recycled. Now what 're you complaining about?

Re:tour of duty

[ahkbarr]

get shot up, get repaired, get sent back in

good for morale :) What a dick. You know, rather than imply that this is so obviously just a further attempt to abuse soldiers and that this isn't good because of the obvious ulterior motives, you might acknowledge that it would benefit a very large group of disabled people. You know, those people to whom you owe your freedom?

Re:tour of duty

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds a lot like the Cylons to me.

As Athena says, referring to the Cylon raiders, "Death then becomes a learning experience."

Re:tour of duty

[Fizzl]

Freedom from... ?

American army is not for defense. When have you defended against any potential threat that could have taken away your "freedom"?

I hate that patriotic bullshit.

Re:tour of duty

[ahkbarr]

We fight in defense of the freedom of countries other than just our own. It would seem france (small "f" intentional), and a large swath of Europe owes us pretty big for defensive actions. Also, after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, do you think our response was not defensive? I'd say that our "American army", which you hold in such contempt, had a huge role in saving the world on more than one occasion, even despite your "worldly" opinion.

In more recent developments, Iraqis no longer need fear having their skin severely lacerated and then dragged through pits of raw sewage and left to die for political dissension. It's not a perfect place right now, but military action is not utopia-building. It's for removing threats. Saddam was a threat to allies, and attempted on numerous occasions to shoot down U.S. fighter planes which were doing nothing but protecting U.S. allies in the region by enforcing a no-fly zone, which was a condition of ending the first war.

We U.S.A.ians tend to be expected to use our might to "do something" about all the atrocities around the world, but when we do decide to "do something", another group of pissy pansy pukes (you) pop up and pontificate about how terrible we are, and that we aren't defending anything as much as attacking.

In closing, please go suck dead donkey balls you mindless ignorant liberal-fantasy spewing ass pirate.

Re:tour of duty

[Kelz]

I can think of at least 10 countries or regions where "freedom" needed to be defended far far more than in Iraq.

Re:tour of duty

[Fizzl]

Very well. Pearl harbour is an example of defending against invading force. Thank you, that answered my question.

Re:tour of duty

[Grayswan]

If your military is BIG enough, it performs defense just by existing. Kinda like nuclear weapons, they work without being fired. You think if we had no military, Mexico wouldn't have invaded us by now?

These people are a bit scary

[pzs]

I was at a (molecular biology) conference once where a guy was talking about pouring connexin proteins onto damaged skin. This promotes communication, which apparently speeds up the healing process.

This was all well and good but then he said that he was funded by the Navy and "of course they have quite a lot of people with damaged skin at the moment - teehee!"

Possibly the most bad taste "joke" I have ever heard at a conference.

Re:These people are a bit scary

[Kierthos]

Someone should notify Darkman.

Grow meat ?

[bl0kkie]

Maybe then can bundle their efforts and get PETA involved .

Only a matter of time...

[R2.0]

"scientists in labs have grown ... breast implants..."

So soon those penis enlargement ads won't be just a scam?

Not that I need anything like that...

Re:Only a matter of time...

[dwye]

> So soon those penis enlargement ads won't be just a scam?
>
> Not that I need anything like that...

Unless you are a pure lesbian (as opposed to a Lesbian, like Michael Dukakis) you will. Either because every other male is now hung like an equine porn star and you need to keep up (pun not originally intended, but it does work nicely), or as a gift to your significant other who hasn't had his (Hurumph! That is enough, now. Move along.).

Hai Mr. Military Dr.!

[mux2000]

I can has mah PREHENSILE tail nao?

K, THX!!!

Re:Hai Mr. Military Dr.!

[Kojiro Ganryu Sasaki]

Tails only come in cat tail form, bundled with extra large cat ears. And we only sell to girls, sorry.

Re:Hai Mr. Military Dr.!

[Oktober Sunset]

ha, well, ill get a sex change, get the tail, then change back. With the way technology is going, it should not be too hard soon.

And that's why he's a general.

[jpellino]

"The general cited animals like salamanders that can regrow lost tails or limbs. 'Why can't a mammal do the same thing?' he asked.""

He should have consulted a whole raft of references to find out just how much has been done and how much is known.

This is typical PHB behavior and along the lines of "We have to build a roller coaster - why can't we just use old railroad track and some Yugos?"

A leadership based remark would be more like "we have good reasons to believe it's possible - and for the sake of these kids, we'll find out just how."

Re:And that's why he's a general.

[geekoid]

Please, it's a quick line for an article. It's focused on getting the idea of it across to your average person.

Opportunities....

[Zocalo]

So, the US military is looking to fund a project to re-grow body parts, including meat, and PETA is offering money to someone who can create artificial meat. That sounds like a match made in Soylent Heaven to me; "It's your *own* meat; how could it not be ethical to eat it? You didn't suffer did you?"

Re:Opportunities....

[Rob T Firefly]

You are what you eat when you eat what you are.

Re:Opportunities....

[LifesABeach]

I cannot help but think of Gene Therapy as an excellent solution to regenerating body parts. I guess that part one of the problem will be, "how to do it predictably", part two will be, "how to do it fast". This could affect the mandatory retirement age if "aged" cell regeneration can be treated.

Re:Opportunities....

[Luyseyal]

You are my hero today. Excellent post!
-l

Re:Opportunities....

[jollyreaper]

So, the US military is looking to fund a project to re-grow body parts, including meat, and PETA is offering money to someone who can create artificial meat. That sounds like a Eat me! I'm delicious.

relation to SciAm article?

[UnanimousCoward]

I just read this Scientific American article on the subject, and it seems a lot farther away than the Slate article is implying. I wonder if some of the funding is going to the researchers who wrote the SciAm article.

Re:relation to SciAm article?

[maxume]

Generating tissues on scaffolding outside the body is here. There are people with functional bladders that were grown outside of their bodies from cells harvested from their bodies and then implanted, and the summary mentions that doctors are growing an ear.

Sending the proper message to the body to cause it to regrow specific tissues with the correct functions, forms and locations is the holy grail, and I'm pretty sure the guy that used salamander protein powder on the tip of his finger is just about the only human research.

Re:relation to SciAm article?

[Loki_1929]

The military can often push the boundaries of technology far more rapidly than those inspired purely by curiosity. The military sees only an objective and plans to achieve it. It pushes ahead toward that objective regardless of any failures or problems unless and until it becomes obvious that said objective is either impossible to reach or is not worth the effort.

There's something to be said for military-inspired scientific work. Look at how quickly the Manhattan Project took some then-wild and crazy scientific speculation and turned it into a functional technology. If you'd told scientific spectators what they were planning to do at the start of the project and the timeframe for completion, they'd be laughing at the author as some sort of ignorant fool who had no idea of the kinds of technical and scientific challenges that lay ahead. Of course, the beauty of the military was that it didn't give a damn about the challenges - it wanted its bomb.

Re:relation to SciAm article?

[Luyseyal]

And there was that guy who grew a new jaw bone on his back.

-l

Re:relation to SciAm article?

[maxume]

Cool. It's right in the middle, grown on a scaffolding, but inside the body.

I'm glad that some crazy people go on to become doctors. Otherwise, we would never get stuff like this.

Re:relation to SciAm article?

[maxume]

I have seen something like that said about Moore's law.

To what extent is Moore's law a result of the pace of semiconductor research, and to what extent is the pace of semiconductor research a result of Moore's law?

Of course, need also drives a lot of research outside of the military, it just gets sullied with an 'applied' label that seems to turn off a fair number of academics.

Re:relation to SciAm article?

[mentaldrano]

The Manhatten project was functional? Yes, in the sense that they made two bombs that exploded. What they did not do, was develop a process for manufacturing bombs. After the original team left and went back to academic research (mostly), we had ZERO bombs ready for a couple of years. If the Soviets had found out, Europe would have been a nasty place to live for quite a while.

Yes, when the military wants something they push ahead regardless of incidental failure, but as with all research projects, what you get isn't necessarily what you wanted.

Re:relation to SciAm article?

[Loki_1929]

The Manhattan Project took some bleeding edge mathematical theories and transformed them into two different types of nuclear weapons which were used to end World War II. How such a stunning success could be viewed as anything other than functional is mind-boggling.

As for the bomb inventory after the war, that wasn't particularly relevant. We could have built more bombs in a few weeks if it became necessary, but the cost simply wasn't justified with the war being over. The Soviets didn't know the time-table for constructing new bombs and didn't know our inventory. With how well the project itself was guarded, and the incredible consequences of being wrong, there was no chance the Soviets were going to provoke the US until they had bombs of their own which could be used as nuclear deterrants.

The real agenda

[hulye]

If you think a little you might figure out the real, long term agenda of their research.... Just think about that sharks can already regenerate lost fins. But how about the things attached to their head? Mmmmm, do you get it....

Whoa whoa whoa HOLD THE PHONE

[Arreez]

The military has been working on regrowing lost body parts using extracellular matrices and scientists in labs have grown blood vessels, livers, bladders, BREAST IMPLANTS?????, and meat....... ......Notice how the growing of breast implants seems to be a prerequisite to growing "meat"..... *snickers*

That's who keeps sending me these messages is it..

[jammo]

You ain't no tiny cocktail sausage, you can be the fat bratwurst with our concoction.

Seriously?

[Guerilla* Napalm]

I can see it now... an Iraqi dissident is hiding in a ditch near Baghdad, determined to ambush the next American patrol, then reconsiders because he's distracted by the sergeant's spectacular breasts....that might just work. Hooraay! Fake Tits for everyone!

Re:Seriously?

[R2.0]

"can see it now... an Iraqi dissident is hiding in a ditch near Baghdad, determined to ambush the next American patrol, then reconsiders because he's distracted by the sergeant's spectacular breasts....that might just work. Hooraay! Fake Tits for everyone!"

Somebody's been reading John Ringo.

Re:Seriously?

[Alexpkeaton1010]

As someone who actually had a smoking hot female sergeant, I would mod you insightful if I had mod points.

Re:Seriously?

[argStyopa]

If I had boobs, I'd have no time to fight anyone. I'd probably never leave the house.

obDrWho

[Rob T Firefly]

What this will eventually mean is every five years or so, you can be played by a new actor with an updated hairstyle.

Already done in Starship Trooper

[JcMorin]

The must have watch the film starship trooper and found that body replacement is easier than recruiting/training new soldiers.

We have the technology!

[Mr Z]

No Steve Austin / Six Million Dollar Man references yet? Tsk... tsk...

Re:We have the technology!

[nospam007]

No Steve Austin / Six Million Dollar Man references yet? Tsk... tsk...

RTFA, inflation hit, it's now the 250 Million Dollar Man.

The cost for us

[RESPAWN]

I wonder how much it will cost the general public once the technology matures. An arm and a leg?

breast implants eh?

[Dreamsleep]

so thats how they are made...they're grown! and after all this time of thinking silicon as a tetravalent metalloid created in a electric furnace...huh, how embarrassing for me not to know this! thank you military for pursuing the ability to perfect our already hard-breasted society. i know you wont let us down!

p.s. maybe since implants are grown thats where the term "melons" came from? :)

Re:breast implants eh?

[Big_Breaker]

There is in fact research into regrowth of fatty breast tissue from stem cells. There are a number of reasons for pursuing "natural" materials for reconstruction. For total reconstructions due to mastectomy, birth defect or injury the man-made implants are not cosmetically convincing. Some women are allergic or otherwise do not tolerate silcone in the implant envelope. Many women are not excited about having foreign material implanted in their bodies and especially for mastectomies would prefer to be reconstructed with their "own" tissues. It's a prosthetic versus regrowth issue... just like it is for the rest of the article.

How about an analogy: If you lost your pecker, would you like to have prosthetic replacement implanted under grafted skin or a regrown, fully functioning "member" from your own stem cells just like the original.

Re:We can spend 12 billion a month in Iraq

[Exitar]

Exactly! Look at all the money DARPA spent to develop ARPANET!
I'm sure we'll never use anything even remotely similar!

Re:We can spend 12 billion a month in Iraq

[TehDuffman]

There is plenty of research that is paid for by the military (through taxes) and then comes around to benefit civilians in the long run.

I can think of a few off the top of my head...

1) The internet (ARPA)
2) Jet power and most anything involving aviation
3) Many types of cold weather gear
4) Alot of medical research was done to save people in uniform
5) Satellite technology

If it wasn't for the military alot of these things just would not have gotten the funding they deserved because they wouldn't have been needed at the time.

$250 million

[Saint Gerbil]

that will cost and arm and a leg!

Respawn times are too looong!

[Thanshin]

I was killed Monday and didn't make it back to the field till Wednesday. Respawn times are boring.

I request this glaring bug to be corrected by next patch.

Milspec breasts

[sjbe]

Yeah, what purpose does the military have in growing all natural 'breast implants'? Weapons of mass distraction!

Re:Milspec breasts

[somersault]

Granted, it could divert blood away from enemy brains, and even take care of the crack man-hating dyke platoons..

Re:Milspec breasts

[davidsyes]

Why am I thinking Universal Soldiers meets Austin Powers The Spy Who Shagged Me? Van Dam vs Meyers. Agents Spitz & Swallows take on the Van Dam action...

As for Mil-Spec breasts, do those come with machine guns or toxic injectors?

Re:We can spend 12 billion a month in Iraq

[maxume]

A 1 billion dollar highway isn't necessarily better than a 1 million dollar highway.

Iraq is insane, but it doesn't automatically reflect on the spending levels for this type of research.

your tax $ @ work - breast implants

[mnemotronic]

I can already see the label:

Caution - these breasts are the property of the United States Army. Unauthorized access is forbidden. Remove kevlar plating before inspection. Do not step here. Do not used depleted uranium munitions in these weapons.

Similar to the PETA X-Prize, no?

[Chuckles08]

So, the PETA X-Prize discussed yesterday was all about creating meat in a lab. Looks like this technology (organ creation) requires the same techniques... Will be interesting to see if the efforts to grow hearts, etc. also lead to lab steaks.

Re:Similar to the PETA X-Prize, no?

[geek2k5]

'Vat' grown meat and body parts have a long science fiction history. It is about time they are doing research into this on the military side.

Say isn't this how..

[lexsird]

The military, and medical experiments, isn't this how bad movies and good video games start from?

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Imagine how many more soldiers they will get with

[crakbone]

Imagine how many more soldiers they will get with the this advertising. Serve now and get a 12" penile enhancement!!!! Just 3 inches per tour!!!!

Growing body parts/growing people?

[Couzin2000]

Why is it that this is just surprising everyone all of a sudden? Growing body parts has been on the agenda for years and years and years. That was the original intent in the beginning of stem cell research. This is obviously a first step in getting the acceptance of the public.

While people are vocal about saying no to stem cell research, they are also saying yes to re-growing their body parts. I find this hypocritical, to say the least of this.

I'm thinking of the future, here, and I wonder when I will hear someone say "well, we regrow arms and livers and legs... why not a whole body? Why not stay alive forever?" I personally do NOT want to see George W. Bush live for another 100 years, when my yet-unborn-grandkids will be having their own kids, and will have to witness the destruction of our environment and of democracy altogether when W. takes power for a 3rd term. It's like Dr Evil all over again.

Before the military start using this, shouldn't there be a universal law passed for the entire planet, saying that we will not misuse this stuff? I see moral, religious, political, military, and more, implications in this kind of technology, and that this kind of thing is important cannot be ignored just by saying "Hey, what about my penis implant?"

Re:Growing body parts/growing people?

[DarkProphet]

Why did parent get modded interesting? Its not.

For starters, I'd LOVE to see Gee Dub live for another 100 years, especially if he does so in jail. Further, it would be impossible for him to serve a third term, so the argument is irrelevant.

And why not stay alive forever? What is your definition of 'misuse' in the context of regenerative technologies? If the technology exists and I can afford it, what is the problem with growing a new cock? People get 'cosmetic' surgery everyday. Perhaps we should ban that as well so that our doctors have time to work on more deserving patients?

If you can see the implications, please enumerate an example of the following:

• Moral: What exactly is immoral about regenerating your own tissue for personal use?
• Religious: If its against your religion you either don't do it or reassess your belief system.
• Military: Well if they use it to clone super-soldiers, that could be negatively perceived, as they'd essentially be property of the military. This could as such be seen as a human-rights issue.
• More: More? Like what, exactly? I am genuinely curious.

If you can offer some concrete examples of misuse, THAT post will deserve to be +1 Interesting or perhaps Insightful :-)

Just Another Military Contractor Handout

[Doc Ruby]

How can we be expected to believe these contracts will do anything but make some "biotech entrepreneurs" rich, without ever showing any medical benefit to the general population, when Bush's Pentagon won't even fund normal veterans services like healthcare, insurance, education, or even reasonable salary increases?

I know the Pentagon is sending badly wounded soldiers back into fighting in Iraq. But how do they expect people to volunteer to go through the ringer without keeping our promises to these making the ultimate sacrifices, especially if the only medical care they'll get will be to rotate their tires after they get blasted to bits, until there's nothing left to put together and send back?

Although I guess a draft combined with regrowing body parts could do the trick. "Frankenstein's Army" for the 21st Century. I'll be scanning the Pentagon budgets for new funding for zombies, the real cutting edge.

new comedy pilot...

[owlnation]

...

M*A*S*H*U*P

I think this has already been done...

[Digi-John]

I'm not sure we should focus on the salamander angle too much

Re:Confused

[CautionaryX]

I'll take the bait. It's not about being against stem cell research. It's how the stem cells are harvested. Bush and Co. are against harvesting stem cells from human embryos because that would, in effect, kill the human being formed from those cells. There are other ways to get stem cells that are supported by Bush.

My Request

[Tablizer]

Can I have 2 middle fingers on one hand to make my commute more efficient?

Curt Conners

[Culture20]

The general cited animals like salamanders that can regrow lost tails or limbs. 'Why can't a mammal do the same thing?' he asked. Let's get Curt Conners right on that.

STROGG STROGG STROGG

[Techmaniac]

Can I get an "Eat the Human Food"!?!!

The island

[mounthood]

1. Grow clones in an underground bunker, with a lottery to go to an island paradise.
2. (put some action here)
3. Profit!!

http://imdb.com/title/tt0399201/

Excuse me?

[erc]

Everyone in the Bush Administration is trying to make it illegal - so why is it OK for the military, but not for everyone else? What's up with that?

Re:Excuse me?

[Kojiro Ganryu Sasaki]

Because the army wants to use what they discover to improve their ability to kill people. Everyone else just wants to use it for immoral reasons.

Good project, but not for the military.

[gr8scot]

This should be done privately, and above all, with absolutely no input from the military except as customer of the procedures developed.

*ahem*

[TiggertheMad]

Furthermore, 300,000 soldiers are coming back from Iraq with some kind of mental disorder. You can't grow a new happy mind in a petri dish.

...YET...

Muscles and Nerves

[DynaSoar]

Growing new muscle tissue is a waste of time, unless one solves the problem of regrowing nerve tissue, including getting it to reconnect at the severed spot as well as migrating through the new tissue to its intended connection target. Without nerve connection the muscle is useless and will atrophy. To see what happens, look at Stephen Hawking. His illness is MOTOR neuron disease, loss of nerves that operate muscles.

We *can* regrow neurons as we have natural stem cells that do so. The problem with either natural or induced growth is getting them to follow the path they're supposed to rather than grow into a tangled heap called a neuroma. Those can be more of a problem than no regrowth, as they can regrow nerve endings on the tangle, and so be extremely sensitive in the wrong place.

I had a damaged nerve in my foot excised. The end of the nerve grew a neuroma. If I ran, or even walked too hard, it was like stepping on a nail. Couldn't run, so couldn't fight. The Army put me out. Over the next 10 years the neuroma faded away. And the nerve regrew properly. I now have full feeling in the area served by that nerve. This is not the usual course of healing -- I was just damn lucky.

The military is willing to pay to have human tissue regrowth rather than lose the entire investment in a service member. They paid around $200,000 total for all my training. When I was capable again, I was too old. If I'd have been able to have this happen over the course of a year or so I could have been kept in and on medical leave, returning to service when finished.

My concern is that the military will effectively experiment on its service members by applying this technology to their healing before it's perfected. Someone still in service has a duty to try to continue, and they carry implied consent to take necessary medical treatment, by passing informed consent when pressure to accept treatment is applied. Refusing treatment can be taken as refusing to serve through one's contract. If the treatment were being offered through the Veterans Administration, fine. Through the military, I'd be wary until it's proven good enough for the civilian market.

The Lizard?

[ZombieRoboNinja]

This plan didn't seem to work out too well for Curt Connors...

"Memory removal" being developed.

[RandomU]

The military is currently funding research into a drug that removes the negative reactions to bad memories. Thus in theory reduceing or eliminating PTSD.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6264530.stm

Random

Re:"Memory removal" being developed.

[somersault]

It's good that they're looking into that, but that only eliminates the memories rather than the symptoms of PTSD. From your link

Dr Monica Thompson, a consultant clinical psychologist at London's Traumatic Stress Clinic, stressed that post traumatic stress disorder was a complex condition with many other symptoms other than bad memories. She said that even if a treatment successfully dampened down bad memories patients could still be left with potentially debilitating symptoms, such as high fear levels. There is no silver bullet for this stuff.. I experienced a pretty horrific breakup with my gf of two years (who came over to the UK from Canada just to be with me, no less), I'd love to erase those memories, but as James Kirk once said

Damn it, Bones, you're a doctor. You know that pain and guilt can't be taken away with a wave of a magic wand. They're the things we carry with us, the things that make us who we are. If we lose them, we lose ourselves. I don't want my pain taken away! I need my pain! I know that's a bit trite for cases like rape and PTSD, but it's generally true.. drugs can help (I wish I hadn't come off my anti-depressants again because it's making me irritable and generally more anti-social again), but they can't eliminate the source of the problem if the damage is psychological rather than physical, because psychological problems affect so many things. You can't just fix it up like a broken bone..

Tlielaxu scum

[wart]

The Tlielaxu claimed to do this as well, but they were secretly harvesting body parts from Zensunni slaves. The next thing you know the military will be growing gholas in their axlotl tanks. They claim that no women will be allowed in the military, but secretly they will need them...

tagging failed us

[cellocgw]

How could nobody have applied the popular "whatcouldpossiblygowrong" tag to this one?

Re:new comedy pilot...

[geekoid]

Excellent, mod this person up

Why can't a soldier do the same thing?

[ignavus]

"animals like salamanders .. can regrow lost tails .... 'Why can't a mammal do the same thing?'"

I for one welcome our new tail-growing military overlords...

I suppose it would help soldiers to swing through the trees during jungle warfare.