Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Wake Forest Researchers Swap Skin Grafts For Cell Spraying

Posted by timothy on from the they-probably-getcha-on-the-refills dept.

TigerWolf2 writes with this excerpt from a Reuters story carried by Yahoo: "Inspired by a standard office inkjet printer, US researchers have rigged up a device that can spray skin cells directly onto burn victims, quickly protecting and healing their wounds as an alternative to skin grafts. ... Tests on mice showed the spray system, called bioprinting, could heal wounds quickly and safely, the researchers reported at the Translational Regenerative Medicine Forum."

123 comments

  1. Jews by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    How many shekels is a Palestinian life worth to you fucking kikes??

    I hope someone invades your country and treats you the same way you treat the dark skinned natives you exterminate.

  2. interesting concept by LiquidCoooled · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    this is an interesting concept.
    it would be a novel alternative to implants for ladies.

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
    1. Re:interesting concept by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Instead of implants you are suggesting spraying on an inch or two of skin onto the breast? What would 2 inch thick skin feel like? And what about the nipple?

    2. Re:interesting concept by toastar · · Score: 1

      Does it make me tree hugger to feel bad for the rats they must have used to test this.

      I mean you'ld have to be a bit sadistic to want to burn living animals for a living.

    3. Re:interesting concept by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 1

      I mean you'ld have to be a bit sadistic to want to burn living animals for a living.

      Or just care about helping your own species.

    4. Re:interesting concept by jameskojiro · · Score: 1

      Those are good jobs to keep the psychopaths out htere from making that their hobby, make it thir job and they become a productive and safe member of society, or they turn into "Barry the Chopper"....

      --
      Tsukasa: All I really want, is to be left alone...
    5. Re:interesting concept by LostAlaska · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yeah, it would be a little disconcerting if during the meeting where they were trying to figure out an impartial way to decide who gets that job of burning the mice and the new lab tech jumps up furiously waving his hands saying "oh, me, me, choose me, pretty pretty please, choose me!" If that ever does happen I'd have a 2 part questionnaire for him to fill out. Question 1, do you like horribly violent movies like Saw or Hostel? (Y or N) Question 2, do you like musicals? (Y or N) if he says yes to both... serial killer. thank you venn diagrams.

    6. Re:interesting concept by X0563511 · · Score: 1

      If it makes you feel better, I'm sure they can anesthetize the mice. Hell, for this purpose they could breed a braindead and pain-immune strain if it was really that big an issue.

      ("lab rat" is a misnomer)

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    7. Re:interesting concept by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 1

      I mean you'ld have to be a bit sadistic to want to burn living animals for a living.

      I think I can imagine who did those experiments...

    8. Re:interesting concept by FooAtWFU · · Score: 3, Interesting

      My little sister actually had a summer internship with the Wake Forest Center for Regenerative Medicine. One of the things she would do is basically give puncture wounds to mice. After this experience, she apparently didn't want to be a researcher anymore.

      --
      The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
    9. Re:interesting concept by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      All in the name of science!

    10. Re:interesting concept by Posting=!Working · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Feeling bad about the rats is fine, it's normal.

      But it's disingenuous to say they want to burn animals for a living. What they do for a living is try to build a device that could save many lives and help many more reduce their suffering. They are required to test them on animals before humans, it's part of the job. It's not a part of the job they like, but it's necessary so they do it. Could there be a sadistic few? Sure, but it's unlikely. There are far easier and better paid jobs that allow you to be sadistic to animals than research assistant at a lab. Rats are cheap, you can buy or even catch all you like. Getting your PhD to satisfy your sadism toward rats is taking things a bit far.

      I would guess that most of them feel bad for the rats as well. But they can justify it with what they consider a higher purpose, reducing death and suffering. It might not be justifiable to you, but it is to them. It doesn't mean they like doing it.

      And I respect your opinion if you don't think it's worth it. Just please recognize that both sides of the argument have merit, and don't assume those that think differently than you on the issue are amoral or hate animals, but probably only disagree with you over which is more important.

      --
      This sentence no verb.
    11. Re:interesting concept by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ixnay on the ArryBay the Opperchay. We put a lid on the irthbay ertificatecay but if they get wind of the Opperchay thing we'll have a hell of a time containing the fallout.

    12. Re:interesting concept by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 1

      If you own snakes, then you feed them a lot of mice too.
      Some folks kill the mice first-- some folks don't.

      --
      She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
    13. Re:interesting concept by Jimbookis · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It's already been pioneered, done and patented by Fiona Woods here in Australia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiona_Wood. But we all know the USians only give a crap about their own patents, no-one else's. Just look at the shit-fight CSIRO had to go through to get money out of companies in the USA to honour their WiFi related patents.

    14. Re:interesting concept by CorporateSuit · · Score: 1

      What would 2 inch thick skin feel like

      like an enormous birthmark.

      --
      I am the richest astronaut ever to win the superbowl.
    15. Re:interesting concept by snspdaarf · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but come on. Who wouldn't like to have "Administered puncture wounds to mice" on their resume?

      --
      Why, without your clothes, you're naked, Miss Dudley!
    16. Re:interesting concept by icebike · · Score: 2, Informative

      She felt no compunction about stealing US inventions to help her "invention".

      "r Wood turned to the emerging US-invented technology of cultured skin to save his life, working nights in a laboratory along with scientist Marie Stoner."

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    17. Re:interesting concept by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So inflicting agony on a creature is fine, as long as it's to help someone else? You should come visit me, I've got some stuff I want to try that'll help my partner out. Don't count on going home again...

    18. Re:interesting concept by HungryHobo · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I once had a fascinating talk with a girl who worked at one of those labs and was given the job of killing the mice before they're analyzed.

      Apparently in that lab it was the job they gave to all the newbies when they first arrived.

    19. Re:interesting concept by HungryHobo · · Score: 1

      To clarify not one of the labs in TFA, just a lab where they used mice for some experiments.

    20. Re:interesting concept by Red+Flayer · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Yeah, while the premise is the same, implementations are not. The device being tested in the US is not the same as the delivery mechanism Woods uses, hence no invalidation for prior art.

      Besides, what Woods should really be recognized for is not the spray-on delivery, but instead the advances in culturing techniques. This was the real breakthrough, IMO.

      Of note, Woods got a lot of criticism for using her methods without it going through clinical trials. They're still not out of clinical trials, AFAIK...

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    21. Re:interesting concept by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      Feeling bad about the rats is fine, it's normal.

      But it's disingenuous to say they want to burn animals for a living. What they do for a living is try to build a device that could save many lives and help many more reduce their suffering. They are required to test them on animals before humans, it's part of the job. It's not a part of the job they like, but it's necessary so they do it. Could there be a sadistic few? Sure, but it's unlikely. There are far easier and better paid jobs that allow you to be sadistic to animals than research assistant at a lab. Rats are cheap, you can buy or even catch all you like. Getting your PhD to satisfy your sadism toward rats is taking things a bit far.

      I would guess that most of them feel bad for the rats as well. But they can justify it with what they consider a higher purpose, reducing death and suffering. It might not be justifiable to you, but it is to them. It doesn't mean they like doing it.

      And I respect your opinion if you don't think it's worth it. Just please recognize that both sides of the argument have merit, and don't assume those that think differently than you on the issue are amoral or hate animals, but probably only disagree with you over which is more important.

      Feeling bad about a society that condones the killing of innocent humans (abortion) is not ok?

    22. Re:interesting concept by spazdor · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That's a great point. Humans are exactly like mice.

      --
      DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
    23. Re:interesting concept by Random+Destruction · · Score: 1

      Can I borrow your dog?

      --
      :x
    24. Re:interesting concept by skam240 · · Score: 1

      While I get the idea of putting the dirty work no one wants to do off on the intern it's really a shame that it discourages people from going into medical research. Maybe these companies should look towards their future rather than the comfort level of their current employees (in terms of pawning off the shit jobs on interns).

      --
      I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.
    25. Re:interesting concept by Lemmeoutada+Collecti · · Score: 1

      Sounds like it might be almost as effective as "Administered the death penalty to enemies of the state"

      --

      You can have it fast, accurate, or pretty. Pick any 2.
    26. Re:interesting concept by aquila.solo · · Score: 1

      On the other hand, someone has to do those jobs. It's probably better in the long run that she found out she doesn't care for it now, rather than after she's put in all the time and money to get through med school.

    27. Re:interesting concept by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If it is going to save a human life, then yes, you can "borrow my dog".

      ps: actually cat, I don't have a dog.

    28. Re:interesting concept by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 1

      On the other hand, someone has to do those jobs.

      Then find someone suited to the work. Society turns its nose up at people who torture animals and pull the wings off of flies, but a job like this sounds like a win-win situation - the sociopathic tendencies get directed somewhere useful where they won't harm anyone and regular people don't get turned off from high-level science just because they can't stomach some of the grittier parts.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    29. Re:interesting concept by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Aren't scientists the ones pushing that we're basically just intelligent animals? A bunch of B.S., obviously. But it's still okay to breed generation upon generation of innocent animal to suffer some of the most excruciating deaths and tortures for the sake of making it convenient for us after 5 years of testing. If we're all just a bunch of animals, and the end of life is just a great nothingness, we should just accept the fact that we're going to die anyway and take it like the animal we are. I do not share this belief, and instead, have compassion. If I had the choice between having my legs amputated, or having them saved due to the deaths and long tortures of thousands of helpless animals, I would go with the former. Heck, before we even did all of this the world seemed to get along just fine.

    30. Re:interesting concept by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

      Gotta disagree. The "scientist" who can't handle the "grittier" parts isn't really a scientist. If you're doing a thesis about pulling the wings off of flies, and you've never actually pulled the wings off of flies, then you're a fraud, plain and simple.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    31. Re:interesting concept by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 1

      Gotta disagree. The "scientist" who can't handle the "grittier" parts isn't really a scientist. If you're doing a thesis about pulling the wings off of flies, and you've never actually pulled the wings off of flies, then you're a fraud, plain and simple.

      Except that's now what the research is about. They do research about how to heal the fly or re-attach the wings or make prosthetic wings. You might as well argue that any research on rats is fraudulent if the researcher didn't build the cage the rats are kept in.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    32. Re:interesting concept by aquila.solo · · Score: 1

      Then find someone suited to the work.

      Exactly. I don't disagree with you. The GGP was talking about their sister who decided she wasn't a fan of research after having to do some of the crap work involved. Someone suggested that it was unfortunate to make the interns do this up front. My response was simply that it was better for her to learn this (that she was in the wrong field) now, rather than after she had gone through years of school and all the attendant costs.

      And as an earlier reply stated, if one can't handle the grittier parts of $CAREER, they're probably not cut out for $CAREER. On the other hand, the rest of the benefits of $CAREER may easily outweigh the crap. The weighting functions are completely individual and change over time.

      Of course the sister shouldn't have felt obligated to continue on in that if she didn't feel suited for it. There are plenty of career options out there. There's almost no reason to "suffer" through a career you don't like. One exception would be larger responsibilities (e.g. feeding your children, paying debts, etc.) and whatever it is you want to do doesn't pay enough to meet them.

    33. Re:interesting concept by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      we should just accept the fact that we're going to die anyway and take it like the animal we are.

      We should have and use compassion but not use intelligence to try to expand our lifecycles if we can? You're an idiot.

    34. Re:interesting concept by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Society turns its nose up at people who torture animals and pull the wings off of flies, but a job like this sounds like a win-win situation - the sociopathic tendencies get directed somewhere useful where they won't harm anyone

      Unfortunately, it doesn't really work this way. Instead, they're just going to become more sociopathic (or whatever) because they're reinforcing these behaviors.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    35. Re:interesting concept by Jedi+Alec · · Score: 1

      If that ever does happen I'd have a 2 part questionnaire for him to fill out. Question 1, do you like horribly violent movies like Saw or Hostel? (Y or N) Question 2, do you like musicals? (Y or N) if he says yes to both... serial killer. thank you venn diagrams.

      Ow, come on. Surely you wouldn't pass up on the opportunity to do a Voight-Kampff? If the lab tech turns out to be batshit crazy...you'll have to fire him, with all the hassle that goes along. If you can convince him that you are batshit insane...he might leave by himself. Either that, or he'll think it's some kind of twisted bonding experience...

      --

      People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
    36. Re:interesting concept by sirlark · · Score: 1

      Actually mice are chosen because they have immune systems remarkably similar to humans, more so than many apes in some cases. And yes, the skin is considered part of the immune system.

    37. Re:interesting concept by ZeroExistenZ · · Score: 1
      Oh wait, so you're saying that $CARREER equals $SINGLEEXPERIENCE ?

      I work as a consultant, in each field no two things are like. And I agree she's been handed a crappy job, probably without proper context. "just puncture these mice, FOR SCIENCE!" which translates quickly to "Well, if this is science, then it sucks."

      I've been dating Phd student researching muscle metabolism and the effects of certain proteins trying to slow down muscle degradation (mostly targetted at seniors), hating the medical industry by the way they threat their "subjects" even though she's very passionate about science and wants to make a difference, she'd having a hard time to cope how they treath "humans", so I can really imagine being innocent and unexperienced, being thrown into the field like that without being able to create context and having been thought all those "moral" courses and other things to justify it it might've been a crude experience.

      That doesn't say anything about being "fit for $CAREER" though or wasting study. One experience isn't representable for an entire field.

      --
      I think we can keep recursing like this until someone returns 1
    38. Re:interesting concept by lxs · · Score: 1

      Do they still swing them by the tail and throw them against the wall or have methods improved since the '80s?

    39. Re:interesting concept by aquila.solo · · Score: 1

      Oh wait, so you're saying that $CARREER equals $SINGLEEXPERIENCE ?

      No, sorry, that's not at all what I'm saying. I'm saying that $CAREER is roughly equal to the sum of numerous (different) $SINGLEEXPERIENCEs. If any one of those $SINGLEEXPERIENCEs is so bad (in your opinion) that you lose interest in $CAREER, maybe you're not right for that $CAREER (or, to put it another way, maybe $CAREER isn't right for you). As your girlfriend demonstrates, when you really have passion for something, you find a way to deal with the crap because other aspects are just that fulfilling.

      Granted, the girl that decided to quit after (presumably) one rotten $SINGLEEXPERIENCE was probably acting on insufficient data. But it may have been so repulsive to her that all the previous interest and excitement she had for the field was gone. I'm not saying her decision to quit was right or wrong. But assuming she made the choice which was right for her, (and she doesn't later regret that choice) is it not better to find out early, when she can still easily change majors to something more suitable, or a year into her first job, when that change (while still possible) is much more difficult and costly?

      One experience isn't representable for an entire field.

      No indeed. But one experience can make or break someone's will to stay in a field.

    40. Re:interesting concept by Inda · · Score: 1

      I beleive they starve the mice of oxygen. Hanging is too good for them. I would have liked to have seen gladiator style battles to the death.

      --
      This post contains benzene, nitrosamines, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide.
    41. Re:interesting concept by lisaparratt · · Score: 1

      Given that one can be a professional sadist, and it's a fairly easy yet well paid job, I can't imagine anyone who actually wanted to do it professionally would take up science instead to indulge their kicks.

    42. Re:interesting concept by x2A · · Score: 1

      You're right, scientists ARE all one person! Aww I can understand why you're so bitter, you probably were one of the rats huh? No wonder you think scientists are all one person, to you, they all look alike!

      The funny thing is, all the other rats got anasthetic! hahaha we just wanted to torture you because you look so goddamn stupid, I don't even believe in god yet somehow I believe he put you here to be tortured.

      --
      The revolution will not be televised... but it will have a page on Wikipedia
    43. Re:interesting concept by x2A · · Score: 1

      You're obviously stupid. I can't help with that, but, if it doesn't hurt you too much, I ask you to try think about just one thing: you don't need to be left to feel pain for your skin to be damaged or to heal.

      --
      The revolution will not be televised... but it will have a page on Wikipedia
    44. Re:interesting concept by x2A · · Score: 1

      Erm, no. It's a horrible yet important job, it should be done by people with an interest in reducing any pain on the animal, which doesn't even need to be awake, rather than somebody who actually wants the animal to feel it.

      --
      The revolution will not be televised... but it will have a page on Wikipedia
    45. Re:interesting concept by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

      The cage is extraneous, and you know it. If the "scientist" is researching how to heal, but is unwilling to ensure that the wounds, ailments, or whatever are precisely administered, then the "scientist" is a fraud. You can't hire some chump off the street to come an and make random cuts on your mice, or randomly select and dismember the flies, or whatever. Research requires control - meaning the scientist controls every aspect of the research. Every aspect.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    46. Re:interesting concept by Mindcontrolled · · Score: 1

      Depends on what you are looking for in the animal - if the chemistry is not overly important, the most used method nowadays is probably gassing with carbon dioxide, which is a quite humane death. If you are interested in chemical/physiological details, decapitation is sometimes used. Never seen any lab where something like in your story would happen, if not for ethical reasons, simply for scientific control and reproducibility.

      --
      Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
    47. Re:interesting concept by hesaigo999ca · · Score: 1

      I got to stop you right there....this might be a bit off, but I am game to get modded down if needed.
      Being a programmer I tend to see things a certain way when it comes to unit testing.
      Give me my parameters and i deal with it. If we allow to set up a company full of fake invoices to test a POS, then we have created a fake company....but to use a newly created POS to test in a LIVE environment is not acceptable....we are responsible for the results should anything happen, even when we are ready to install, we need to run scripts, we make backups to consult later in case anything goes wrong, and we have a save point so to speak.

      Using life (any life, not just human) to test with , is not acceptable....to me. All the discoveries we have had, over the years thanks to other animals, should have been made on humans instead as the guinea pigs, not only would this force the pretesting to a higher level, but we would also have a more respectful view of life towards other animals.

      I always said, we should only be so lucky as to have aliens invade and treat us like their food source (such as in Stargate Atlantis with the Wraith) to start knowing what we are doing to all the other species on this planet. We have the technology to make fake foods, binding molecules together to make synthetic but nutritional foods, that we do not need to kill anymore.

      Alas, I am alone in this point of view, and being a free spirited person when it comes to live and let live, I guess I am speaking for nothing....this new technique is amazing, but to puncture mice or burn them to test if it works, makes it pretty sick when you think of it. Give me the meds anyways if I have 3rd degree burns all over my body, and we'll deal with the consequences later, if I die, well learn from it, but don't be so righteous a race to think you are above all.

    48. Re:interesting concept by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 1

      You can't hire some chump off the street to come an and make random cuts on your mice,

      Who said anything about "some chump off the street?"

      Research requires control - meaning the scientist controls every aspect of the research. Every aspect.

      Lol, you've now categorically eliminated the job title of lab assistant. I couldn't have demonstrated the silliness of your position any better myself.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
  3. We live in the future. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Spray-on skin. Printed blood vessels. Nanobot-delivered cancer killers. Wasn't all this science fiction just a few decades ago?

    1. Re:We live in the future. by Jeng · · Score: 1

      Right now its still in the lab, along with everything else you mentioned.

      I would say that it is still science fiction today.

      --
      Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
    2. Re:We live in the future. by CRCulver · · Score: 2, Interesting

      In a sense, we've already outpaced science fiction. As recently as the 1990s, I enjoyed Larry Niven's Gil "the Arm" Hamilton stories (collected in Flatlander ), which foresaw a future so dependent on organ transplants for longevity that even the simplest of crimes like jaywalking would get the death penalty. With China in the news at the time for executing prisoners and harvesting organs, that kind of dystopian future seemed completely plausible. Niven didn't foresee alloplasty (gadgets instead of organs) becoming an alternative for centuries. But already stem cell research, nanotechnology and tissue printing shows that we are jumping directly to modifying the human body through purely artificial means.

    3. Re:We live in the future. by X0563511 · · Score: 1

      It's in the lab. That it exists at all puts it out of fiction and into reality.

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    4. Re:We live in the future. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The use of the word nanobot in the relevant article was a sensationalist, seemingly idiotic choice of words that didn't look like it had any bearing on reality. They were more accurately described as nanoparticles. That being said, I look forward to a cancer cure, I just don't like it when writers assume their audience is stupid and try to pander to that.

    5. Re:We live in the future. by Kelz · · Score: 1

      Fiction means not real, as opposed to "not yet in mass production and perfectly tuned".

    6. Re:We live in the future. by burisch_research · · Score: 1

      Niven's dystopian landscape in this case should not be mistaken for a genuine prediction. I enjoyed the book, but honestly Niven's intention in this case was surely no more than to create an entertaining story!

      --
      char*f="char*f=%c%s%c;main(){printf(f,34,f,34);}";main(){printf(f,34,f,34);}
    7. Re:We live in the future. by CRCulver · · Score: 1

      The collection I mentioned above contains an afterword by Niven about how, in the mid-1990s, some of what he predicted seemed to be finally coming true. Of course Niven liked to create a good story, but in this case he was trying to be prescient.

    8. Re:We live in the future. by burisch_research · · Score: 1

      Ok, sure, 90's and even early noughties. But seriously second-hand organs can't be a growth market for more than a handful of years,

      --
      char*f="char*f=%c%s%c;main(){printf(f,34,f,34);}";main(){printf(f,34,f,34);}
    9. Re:We live in the future. by Jeng · · Score: 1

      So I guess Jules Verne never did write science fiction since just about everything he wrote about was being worked on by the scientific community?

      --
      Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
  4. At last... by Majik+Sheff · · Score: 1

    The Team Fortress II medigun technology is revealed!

    --
    Women are like electronics: you don't know how damaged they are until you try to turn them on.
    1. Re:At last... by JavaBasedOS · · Score: 2, Funny

      Surgeon General's Warning: Prolonged exposure to this spray may result in one's skin gaining a metallic blue or red sheen. Yellowing of the eyes may occur.

  5. The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... will bankrupt you.

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    1. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's where the Chinese cartridge comes in...

    2. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by caffeinemessiah · · Score: 3, Funny
      Did anyone think about the poor sod whose job it was to burn the mice? I mean, it's difficult to catch mice that have just unsuccessfully rushed into burning buildings, or set themselves on fire by accident.

      Then again, I know a guy who works in tissue engineering whose job is to "harvest" mice, as he calls it. Keeps their heads in a jar above his desk. Apparently, they bob around all day with a smiling expression.

      You have to get your hands dirty for a lot of science...

      --
      An old-timer with old-timey ideas.
    3. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know about that, but they might cost you an arm and a leg...

    4. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What do you mean? I would pay money to burn mice...

    5. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      That's where the Chinese cartridge comes in...

            Be sure to read the label:

            Warning! Do not use for burns around the eyes or you may obtain unexpected results.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    6. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by jameskojiro · · Score: 4, Funny

      I know this one "person" who has to make sure their subject gets through a maze using a specilized tool. They motivate the subject by offering a tasty morsel and the subject usuallu complies. The subject sometimes breaks out of the maze right before they terminate the subject in a temprature controlled sterilization procedure. It is a pain because they have to plan an event to make the subject think that they succeeded in escaping, when in fact they didn't.

      There is a lot of mess when it comes to making sure the Science gets done.

      --
      Tsukasa: All I really want, is to be left alone...
    7. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by Dunbal · · Score: 4, Funny

      Er, so what does your programmer buddy who works on the WGA team at Microsoft have to do with this discussion?

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    8. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey, it's no skin off my nose.

    9. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by frosty_tsm · · Score: 1

      That's where the Chinese cartridge comes in...

      Be sure to read the label:

      Warning! Do not use for burns around the eyes or you may obtain unexpected results.

      While I know you're making a squinty-eye joke, I wonder if skin tone would carry over too.

    10. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by X0563511 · · Score: 1

      I'd rather be a poor person than a dead burn victim.

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    11. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      They are Tibetan Buddhist mice... they set themselves on fire to protest the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    12. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by Anomalyx · · Score: 1

      so Lexmark is making the device then?

      --
      No, there is no "-1 I'LL NEVER ADMIT BEING WRONG!!!" mod.
    13. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by Vahokif · · Score: 1

      Now only 30% executed convict!

    14. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by QRDeNameland · · Score: 3, Funny

      That's where the Chinese cartridge comes in...

      Sure, if you want skin with melamine in place of melanin.

      --
      Momentarily, the need for the construction of new light will no longer exist.
    15. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And this is exactly why they don't let you do science.

    16. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is a lot of mess when it comes to making sure the Science gets done.

      Because we can!

    17. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by Arancaytar · · Score: 1

      But hey, your points of data will make a beautiful line.

    18. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

      How about abortion doctors? Are their hands dirty?

    19. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by achenaar · · Score: 1

      At least you made a neat gun!
      I mean, seriously, the mice who are still alive will really appreciate it.

    20. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What terrific news for the 5% of the population who will always be mice.

    21. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by jnnnnn · · Score: 1

      ... actually might be cheaper than ink ones.

    22. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by lxs · · Score: 1

      I heard that they get them from Disney. Most of them are Mickey Mouse stunt doubles.

    23. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by Sabz5150 · · Score: 1

      You have to get your hands dirty for a lot of science...

      But the science got done and we made a neat gun for the mice who are still alive!

      --
      "Who modded this informative? Whoever it is must've been smokin' some of that martian pot!"
    24. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      is it bad if this makes me think of Portal?
      "We do what we must
      because we can.
      For the good of all of us.
      Except the ones who are dead."

    25. Re:The device is cheap, but the cartridges ... by MobyDisk · · Score: 1

      The cheese is a lie!

  6. yay Science! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    all hail the power of Science!

    1. Re:yay Science! by achenaar · · Score: 1

      It works bitches!

  7. First developed by an Australian by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    It's nice that the summary failed to mention the first person to achieve this was Dr Fiona Wood from Perth.

    1. Re:First developed by an Australian by Anonymous+Psychopath · · Score: 1

      It's nice that the summary failed to mention the first person to achieve this was Dr Fiona Wood from Perth.

      Probably because the article doesn't mention it, either.

      --

      Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

    2. Re:First developed by an Australian by reverseengineer · · Score: 5, Informative

      There's a lot of work being done in this area right now- with good reason; there's tremendous potential, and the advance highlighted here is more of an incremental step in a rapidly maturing field than a breakthrough. As the parent notes, Dr. Fiona Wood pioneered a spray-on cell suspension over 15 years ago. She eventually founded a company (now called Avita Medical) which has commercialized this technology. In the last decade, it has been discovered that with minimal modification, an off-the-shelf inkjet printer can print living cells- this article is an example.

      The story here from Wake Forest is apparently a successful test of using an inkjet to print directly on wounds using multiple cell types. The group reported these results at the Translational Regenerative Medicine Forum which took place the last few days. Who else happened to be at that forum? Avita Medical, where Dr. Wood still sits on the board.

      --
      "FDA staff reviewers expressed concern about the number of patients who were left out of the study because they died."
    3. Re:First developed by an Australian by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In your summary you failed to mention the first person to achieve this was English and has migrated to Australia in later life.
      Being an Aussie I love how we claim ownership of anyone successful. We do it for sport why not science. We especially love disowning
      anyone from New Zealand when they fail.

  8. Your fibroblasts cartridge is low... by falken0905 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Your fibroblasts cartridge is low. Would you like to connect to the HP Medical Printing website to order refills?

  9. Seems better in so many ways by 91degrees · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Looks like it cuts down on scarring as well, and it seems that grafting requires adding an additional injury from the donor section. Seems sensible not to do this.

    1. Re:Seems better in so many ways by X0563511 · · Score: 1

      Hmm. Refine this enough and I could see this being used to remove scars and blemishes.

      Cut out the offending patch and slap on something new.

      Definitely a boon for skin cancer too. Just excise (er... ok, flay) the area and spray on a replacement. Of course, we'd need to do this in layers since it's usually more than the top layers here.

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    2. Re:Seems better in so many ways by Red+Flayer · · Score: 2, Informative

      Just excise (er... ok, flay) the area and spray on a replacement

      Finally! My true calling is found.

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    3. Re:Seems better in so many ways by nospam007 · · Score: 1

      "Hmm. Refine this enough and I could see this being used to remove scars and blemishes.

      Cut out the offending patch and slap on something new."

      Cut out the tattoo and print a new one.

  10. Act now and we'll throw in for free... by Locke2005 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    As long as you're using printing technology to place cells over the wound, why not add pigments and voila! Instant tatoo!

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    1. Re:Act now and we'll throw in for free... by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

      As long as you're using printing technology to place cells over the wound, why not add pigments and voila! Instant tatoo!

      I'm not a skin expert, it's my understanding that the top layer of skin cells are completely dead and sloughing off, so you couldn't just spray pigment onto healthy skin and expect it do do anything besides rub off. More likely, you'd have to remove the epidermis if you were doing this intentionally and not as a skin graft (in which case the skin has been removed and that's the problem.)

      So it wouldn't be instant, you'd have to burn off the skin, which would be far more painful than a regular tattoo.

      Anyway, what's more interesting is that you might be able to pattern cells that express different colors. A "cellular tattoo". I'd think it would also not fade like regular tattoos can, since the cells themselves would be continuously making the color, depending on how you did it. But there's at least one other problem there, the transgenic part.

      If you were to just stick a gene for purple into the cell's genome with a retrovirus, you'd get purple cells. But the transgene gets inserted at random. If you were to implant them back into you, that color may have been inserted into an important gene for preventing cancer, and you'd get something like purple melanoma. No good. As I understand it, there are methods for putting transgenes into specific areas of the genome (relating to homologous recombination), so you could be sure you weren't causing cancer, but all the techniques I've heard of have such low efficiencies that it would be hideously expensive. Like, even moreso than a traditional tattoo.

      And actually, now that I think about it, a smarter way of doing it would probably involve induced pluripotency, you could take some cells, cause them to become ipsc (the "fake" stem cells you may have heard about), use homologous recombination to get the pigment expressed in a safe place, select for those purple cells, expand them, induce them to start turning into skin cells, and then use this cell printer tech to make a pattern on the site (after the epidermis has been removed.)

      That's three different technologies that haven't been fully developed yet or approved by the FDA, so it will be a while, and I can't see that ever getting into the price range of a normal tattoo. Also, I'm not an expert in any of those multiple fields. Interesting to think about though.

    2. Re:Act now and we'll throw in for free... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Why doesn't this article have a "Darkman" tag?

    3. Re:Act now and we'll throw in for free... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was thinking the opposite... this will make tattoo removal MUCH less painful.

    4. Re:Act now and we'll throw in for free... by complete+loony · · Score: 2, Funny

      "My face burned off and all I got was this stupid tatoo"?

      --
      09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
    5. Re:Act now and we'll throw in for free... by Eternauta3k · · Score: 1

      Burn victims across the globe rejoice...
      And then cringe in pain

      --
      Yeah. Would you choose a neurosurgeon who pokes around people's brains in his spare time? I wouldn't.
  11. A bit late by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Redundant

    This sort of spray on skin idea was done successfully at the University of Adelaide, Australia already. Fiona Wood was the innovator.

  12. Go Deacs! by StormBear · · Score: 1

    The hometown of Wake Forest University, Winston Salem, has a whole section of its downtown devoted to start-ups developing new cutting edge medical technology. Ironically it is the same location where cigarettes were cranked out by the billions.

    1. Re:Go Deacs! by Yhippa · · Score: 1

      Especially interesting at a Baptist university. I'm pretty ignorant as is but I never would have pegged WFU to do something this cool.

      Oh yeah: ACC! ACC! ACC!

  13. Imagine spraying it where it doesn't belong by LoverOfJoy · · Score: 1

    The new mace. Spray the mugger a new pair of sealed-shut eyelids.

  14. Something tells me by toby · · Score: 1

    It wasn't much fun to be those mice.

    --
    you had me at #!
  15. yum0 Fail It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    pos7s on Usenet are bottom5 butt. Wipe

  16. Rat Pain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    please compare that to fetus pain.

  17. The future is now by ThePirateKing · · Score: 1

    I mean seriously, DAMN, this is like, Star Trek level shit. Seriously. Spray on skin? What next? I love the 21st century.

  18. I thought about this a few months ago. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I was wondering how effective it might be if it was possible to excise a scar and then to spray on a layer of new skin.

    Might it be useful to prevent hypertrophic scarring and keloids?

  19. At the risk of triggering Godwin's Law ... by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 2, Interesting

    They are required to test them on animals before humans, it's part of the job. It's not a part of the job they like, but it's necessary so they do it.

    At the risk of triggering Godwin's Law I feel I must point out that Animal Rights applied to a medical experiment context is what led the NAZIs, in about three steps, to medical experiments on concentration camp inmates.

    Step 1: To avoid experiments on animals the experiments were performed on "mentally defective" humans - i.e. inmates of mental hospitals, initially those who were believed to be so brain-damaged or mentally deficient that they were less aware than animals.

    Step 2: For politically convenient reasons, propaganda campaigns spread the idea that certain classes of people were subhuman - and by extension sub-animal: Jews, Gypsies, Communists, Anarchists, Labor Unionists, Gays, ...

    Step 3: Large numbers of the classes in Step 2. were, for the convenience of the war effort, incarcerated in concentration/labor camps (where their assignment was mainly to be out of the way, and dying was a "good" way to accomplish this). At this point, being used in medical experiments was a way to complete that assignment and contribute to "humanity" in the process...

    The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich is a very scary read. It shows that the NAZI movement started out with pretty much the full set of New Age Counterculture "virtues" (mysticism, animal rights, vegitarianism, body-beautiful health fads, back-to-nature, non-hierarchical consensus decision making, ...) and how these ideas coevolved into what now are considered such monsters that even looking at what they were like is considered anathema.

    (Another example: Consensus decision-making evolves into totalitarianism in the presence of the normal fraction of psychopaths. First diversity and dissent paralyze group action. Then social pressures for conformity are developed to break the deadlock. These grow to be nearly irresistible. Then an individual or small group withholds consent except when the rest of the population does what they want. Finally the population follows their new "leaders" automatically, since that's what will finally happen anyhow.)

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
    1. Re:At the risk of triggering Godwin's Law ... by Posting=!Working · · Score: 1

      Step one and step two in your logic are huge steps, and contain every thing that is immoral in your conclusion.

      Convincing the public that a group of humans are subanimals, as you put it, is the only step needed to get from any point to your step 3. And has nothing to do with the medical experiments - it's arbitrarily thrown in at this point as an assumption, as is the assumption that the disabled are defective in step 1.

      As logically true, in two steps:

      If you snort milk into your nose, then take these 2 steps:
      step 1 - Convince the public that a group of humans are subanimals.
      Step 2 - Kill them. Nazi!

      There's no link between the medical experiments and viewing other humans as a subclass. If there were, then skinhead lab assistants would be the norm.

      See the logic?

      --
      This sentence no verb.
  20. Borderlands by RenHoek · · Score: 1

    I've been playing too much Borderlands.. While reading the article a voice kept screaming in my head: "Strip the flash! Salt the wounds!"

  21. And soon to follow... by falken0905 · · Score: 1

    Print your own penis extension. Erg, I hope they don't use mouse cell for mine! Hmmm, maybe donkey cells or...?

  22. Foreskins are stolen to make this :-( by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Unfortunately foreskins are stolen at birth just so "burn" victims can be helped. Millions of men don't have sex as nature intended because of greedy pharma companies.

  23. Ringworld by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 1

    I want my bouncy Kzin.

  24. Ugh, you Godwinned all over this thread... by thijsh · · Score: 1

    Your post is intriguing and sparks my interest, I ordered the book right away from Amazon... It's a great subject about the social aspects of why horrible stuff happens, and way too many people just believe 'it will never happen to them'. With the context of the science of memetics these social interaction become even more interesting if you think about the idea living a life of it's own beyond the control of the people who started it. In my opinion understanding some process is the first step to be able to prevent that process from reaching the same (inevitable?) conclusion.

    P.S. Screw Godwin, this is mostly on subject and Nazi's should not be a de-facto conversation killer otherwise we can never learn from mistakes from the past...

  25. Earth by AP31R0N · · Score: 1

    a bad place to be anything other than human. Though it can also suck to be human.

    --
    Utilizing the synergization of benchmark e-solutions to pre-workaround action items!
  26. Regenerative medicine growth by virginiajim · · Score: 1

    Do a search for "institute for regenerative medicine" and see how many of these now exist.