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Rats Breathe Air From Lungs Grown In the Lab
cremeglace writes "'For the first time, an animal has drawn a breath with lungs cultivated in the lab.' Although preliminary, the results might eventually lead to replacement lungs for patients. Researchers at Yale University have successfully applied a technique called decellularization that involves using detergent to remove all of the cells from an organ, leaving a scaffold consisting of the fibrous material between cells."
Replicating the effectiveness of a whale's lungs in humans. Our lungs suck.
See, now you can mod this both Interesting AND funny!
A friend's mother recently died of lung cancer, and I'd love to see lives extended by this that would otherwise be cut short. Of course, in a world with limited dollars to pay for medical care, one has to wonder if treating lung cancer or emphysema this way might sometimes come at the expense of treating someone else with a non-"consensual" condition like cystic fibrosis.
I prefer rogues to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest.
I know you're kidding, but the lungs are hardly the only part of the body damaged by smoking. In fact it's relatively hard to find a part of the body which isn't impacted in one way or another by smoking.
Just a little note that may be helpful. I've been a pack a day smoker for 12 years, and have recently transitioned successfully to an eCig. I can still smoke regular cigarettes on occasion when the eCig is not convenient or as satisfying. (I have smoked approximately three packs over the last three months.) I admit that the eCig is not as satisfying, but it has been enough.
The way I transitioned was to use a nicotine patch for two weeks while smoking the eCig continually, and immediately quitting the regular cigarettes. I asked people at work if they minded that I smoked indoors at the office, and they were supportive. After the two weeks, I was able to easily continue using the eCig alone.
I do smoke the eCig almost continually, as opposed to smoking regular cigarettes once per hour, but it is casually integrated into my daily life and I don't really notice any more. I do periodically smoke regular cigarettes, (camping, drinking w/ friends, etc.) but can transition back to the eCig without any change.
It's been about three months, and I definitely enjoy the increased cleanliness of myself and surroundings, mildly increased lung capacity and lack of the need to interrupt my day for a regular cigarette. What amazed me the most was how this change didn't include any of the ill-effects I had encountered in the past trying to quit, or cut back: extreme irritability, erratic behavior and unending tests of my willpower. It was all very easy. Every once in a while I crave a regular cigarette, and it easily passes after conscious eCig usage.