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Man Takes Up Internal Farming

Posted by samzenpus on from the cardiovascular-farming dept.

RockDoctor writes "'A Massachusetts man who was rushed to hospital with a collapsed lung came home with an unusual diagnosis: a pea plant was growing in his lung.' Just that summary should tell you enough to work out most of the rest of the details, but it does raise a number of questions unaddressed by the article: How did the pea roots deal with the patient's immune system? What would have happened if the situation had continued un-treated? I bet the guy has a career awaiting him in PR for a pea-growing company."

136 comments

  1. crap... by bsDaemon · · Score: 4, Funny

    I knew I shouldn't have eaten the seeds to give myself an edge in all those watermelon eating contests :(

    1. Re:crap... by iamhassi · · Score: 1

      I'm not so worried about the few watermelon seeds I've eaten in my life as I am the sunflower seeds and.... oh god, I just realized I had peanut butter last night!

      --
      my karma will be here long after I'm gone
    2. Re:crap... by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 4, Funny

      .... oh god, I just realized I had peanut butter last night!

      Quick! Have someone lick your nuts and see if they taste salty!

      --
      You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
    3. Re:crap... by commodore64_love · · Score: 0, Troll

      Time to stop sniffing those Hemp seeds

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    4. Re:crap... by Cwix · · Score: 1

      you pick them out first...

      --
      You are entitled to your own opinions, not your own facts.
    5. Re:crap... by steelfood · · Score: 1

      At least when it sprouts out of the top of your head, there'll be free watermelon for the whole family!

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
    6. Re:crap... by H0p313ss · · Score: 1

      .... oh god, I just realized I had peanut butter last night!

      Quick! Have someone lick your nuts and see if they taste salty!

      That is going on my to-do list for the weekend.

      --
      XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
    7. Re:crap... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bravo.

    8. Re:crap... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Time to stop sniffing those Hemp seeds

      I've heard of marijuana being used orally and by smoking. Never heard of it being ingested by insufflation.

      There's this really kick-ass thing, maybe you've heard of it. It's called knowing the first goddamned thing about something before commenting on it. You should try it sometime!

  2. This is why you shouldn't eat vegetables by spun · · Score: 1

    I remember as a young kid being vaguely scared that, if I ate watermelon seeds, a watermelon would grow in my stomach. Of course, by the time I was six I realized that plants would not grow inside a human. Turns out I was wrong.

    --
    - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
    1. Re:This is why you shouldn't eat vegetables by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 2, Funny

      The only reason it grew inside of him is because he's as old as dirt ... as a child you were too young to sprout your own garden.

    2. Re:This is why you shouldn't eat vegetables by commodore64_love · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The last time I read a story like this, the human was taking immuno-suppressant drugs which allowed the plant to grow without being attacked & killed by white blood cells.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    3. Re:This is why you shouldn't eat vegetables by rhyder128k · · Score: 2, Funny

      There was a young woman from Leeds, who swallowed a packet of seeds. Within the hour, her tits were in flower, and her bottom was covered in weeds. See, I knew I learnt something instructive while at school.

      --
      Michael Reed, freelance tech writer.
    4. Re:This is why you shouldn't eat vegetables by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Turns out you were wrong twice in a row.

        1. Plants don't grow in your stomach (hence you were correct, but your change of mind is wrong)
        2. Plant seeds can *sprout* in a lung, because it's 100% humidity there.

      But nothing will grow. Immune system will kill small things, and large things will develop complications (collapsed lung, pain, etc.). In today's day and age this is not a huge problem, yet it is unusual. Most seeds and foreign material would be expelled from the lungs prior to it having any problems.

      This is why you should eat vegetables and not aspire *uncooked* vegetable *seeds*. Heck, it is bad to aspire any object - tends to result in problems down the road.

  3. Wow! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Unpealievable!

    1. Re:Wow! by kvezach · · Score: 1

      We know a man in remote Massachusetts. Every July, peas grow there.

  4. good thing it wasn't a watermelon seed by snookerhog · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Seriously though, INABotanist so could someone elaborate on how long a sprout like this could survive devoid of light for photosynthesis?

    I assume that if it went untreated it would have just died and either been absorbed or caused a nasty infection.

    1. Re:good thing it wasn't a watermelon seed by Issarlk · · Score: 1

      It carries its food with it. Enough to grow out of the ground and to start photosynthesising.

    2. Re:good thing it wasn't a watermelon seed by TheJokeExplainer · · Score: 5, Informative

      Seeds don't need light when they're just sprouting. That's why you can plant them buried under soil, then they start to sprout.

      Think of it as them subsisting on their "egg yolk" (the twin "bean" parts) while they're still in the process of sprouting. As the plant use them up in sprouting and forming leaves, the "bean" parts shrivel up and then the plant starts to rely on its roots and leaves for food and water.

      What the article describes most likely looks more like a bean sprout than a full-blown pea plant.

      --
      visit my pal the xkcd explainer!
    3. Re:good thing it wasn't a watermelon seed by sonnejw0 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      A seedling is capable of germinating without sunlight, because the fruit (the pea) has within it all the necessary nutrients to sprout.

      Photosynthesis serves the function of producing sugar from sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide by transfering an electron through several enzymatic structures. It is conceivable that (in order of likelihood), a) the half-inch long seedling was still being fully fed from the fruit, b) simple diffusion of sugar from the blood stream was able to supply the plant with enough sugar to sustain itself, c) free radicals were able to diffuse into the seedling's tissue, donating an electron to the photosynthetic chain.

      "Scientists Grow Plants without Sunlight or Water": http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=scientists-grow-plants-wi

    4. Re:good thing it wasn't a watermelon seed by Flea+of+Pain · · Score: 3, Funny

      Well it works like this. First if uses its existing nutrients to grow high enough to reach sunlight. Then it starts photosynthesis. If they'd left it in him, he'd have ended up like this

      --
      Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
    5. Re:good thing it wasn't a watermelon seed by Reziac · · Score: 2, Interesting

      "Scientists Grow Plants without Sunlight or Water" -- I'm wondering how this might be applied to limited-resource gardening, such as aboard spacecraft (wouldn't be energy-efficient, but might be nutrient-efficient). No doubt some are already wondering how to apply it to the pot plants in mom's basement, too. ;)

      Not to mention... "If I grow pot in my lung, I won't have to smoke it!"

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    6. Re:good thing it wasn't a watermelon seed by fbjon · · Score: 1

      I'm thinking more like this.

      --
      True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
    7. Re:good thing it wasn't a watermelon seed by guyminuslife · · Score: 1

      But he would have made an excellent food source for these guys.

      --
      I don't believe in time. It's a grand conspiracy designed to sell watches.
    8. Re:good thing it wasn't a watermelon seed by mattack2 · · Score: 1

      White asparagus is just regular asparagus grown without sunlight.

      ahref=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spargelrel=url2html-27291http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spargel>

    9. Re:good thing it wasn't a watermelon seed by mattack2 · · Score: 1

      darn slashdot.

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

    10. Re:good thing it wasn't a watermelon seed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Slashdot moderators are retarded. +5, informative for stating the obvious? The original poster asked how long it could survive. This post completely ignores that question and goes on to explain that a seed doesn't need light to sprout. Unbelievable!

    11. Re:good thing it wasn't a watermelon seed by badkarmadayaccount · · Score: 1

      Better idea - some sort of harmless mold that grows somewhere discreet - say, the ears, and releases THC.

      --
      I know tobacco is bad for you, so I smoke weed with crack.
    12. Re:good thing it wasn't a watermelon seed by Reziac · · Score: 1

      Sounds like a plan.. now just don't forget and Q-Tip your ears :)

      Posted this story to a mailing list and someone there piped up with a story about how he'd had a grass seed (the kind you mow) grow in his ear while he was in the navy, resulting in hellacious headaches. Had got stuck in the earwax somehow and took root... doc pulled it out. Not entirely sure if he's pullin' our legs but it's a good story anyway :)

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    13. Re:good thing it wasn't a watermelon seed by Gaffod · · Score: 1

      B and C are not conceivable, no.

  5. Pine tree lung by Jodka · · Score: 5, Informative

    There is a similar case of a pine tree in a lung.

    --
    Ceci n'est pas une signature.
    1. Re:Pine tree lung by sonnejw0 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Actually, the pine tree in a lung ... that was (obviously) a fake: http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2009/04/russian-man-did-not-aspirate-fir-tree.html But if this pea actually did grow insidiously inside a man's lung, this is actually remarkable in any number of ways. The immune system surely could not handle a pea, it's simply too large. Plants of been around for a lot longer than mammals, and this just goes to show their evolutionary dominance. If you're an imaginative person, it brings to mind that M. Night Shyamalan movie about the plants intentionally releasing pollen that was toxic to humans. Twilight zone stuff.

      A plant growing inside a human, able to cause pain and possibly death, much like a virus, brings to mind lots of philosophical questions.

    2. Re:Pine tree lung by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Plants of been

      What?!

    3. Re:Pine tree lung by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If you're an imaginative person, it brings to mind that M. Night Shyamalan movie about the plants intentionally releasing pollen that was toxic to humans.

      Except that plants don't have intentions (doesn't take away from a silly horror flick, of course).

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    4. Re:Pine tree lung by sonnejw0 · · Score: 0

      Humans don't have "intentions" either, we're just a mix of chemicals that obey physical laws. Evolutionarily, plants could just as easily sense human 'pheromones' in the environment through receptors on their bark or leaves, which initiaties a cascade of chemical events leading to the release of toxic pollen. That's basically what a glutamate receptor in your brain does: senses a neurochemical causing neuronal depolarization of the target cell.

    5. Re:Pine tree lung by Godskitchen · · Score: 1

      Evolutionary dominance? Yes, because you know, over millions of years, several varieties of peas adapted to the conditions of the human lung and mechanisms of avoiding destruction by the immune system.

    6. Re:Pine tree lung by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 2, Interesting

      How did this toxic pollen evolve?

      Of course humans have intentions - brains operate differently than bark. It's of course true that the basis for our brains is simple electro-chemical/quantum interactions, but from that base are built ever more complex structures, some of which generate intentions.

      To say a brain has no intentions is to say that a city has no neighborhoods because houses are made of wood, stone and metal, which have no neighborhoods. This is a division error.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    7. Re:Pine tree lung by sonnejw0 · · Score: 1

      How does anything evolve? What's your point?

      It's not a division error, and linking to an explanation of a division error doesn't make it one any more. There's no reductionism about it. That's like saying that describing how an engine causes a car move is reductionist.
      Neurons operate via complex set of modalities involving physical, chemical, and temporal actuators. "Intention" is a human invention foisted upon objects which results in superstition and type I error. Great evolutionarily to protect us from predators, but bad at making us effective logicians. Synergism of neurons can create inordinately complex results, but that does not create a qualitative upheaval in which "intention" is born. Free will cannot exist without cause-and-effect. If we truly had free will, our actions would have no correlation to our environment at all ... but they do. What we sense in our environment causes us to produce a certain effect, like sensing a sabertooth tiger "causes" our sympathetic noradrenergic systems to overpower our parasympathetic system and produce a preference to RUN! It's all very elegant ... but complexity and synergism is quantitatively exponential, it does not produce something where there was nothing.

    8. Re:Pine tree lung by bar-agent · · Score: 1

      Evolutionary dominance? Yes, because you know, over millions of years, several varieties of peas adapted to the conditions of the human lung and mechanisms of avoiding destruction by the immune system.

      Well, as the article shows, they have done exactly that without even really trying.

      (Or more correctly, but less elegantly in our agency-based language, without even being tried.)

      --
      i'd hit it so hard, if you pulled me out you'd be the king of britain [bash.org]
    9. Re:Pine tree lung by RadioElectric · · Score: 1

      These are significant questions but you're acting like we already have the answers.

    10. Re:Pine tree lung by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 2, Interesting

      How does anything evolve? What's your point?

      Traits occurring through random mutation that are useful for a species to reproduce tend to be picked up, and traits that expend resources that offer no benefit tend to be lost.

      The idea that thousands of plant species could have convergently picked up a complex set of traits (poison pollen, communications systems) that were never useful before but required resources to maintain - asymptotically approaches zero.

      Synergism of neurons can create inordinately complex results, but that does not create a qualitative upheaval in which "intention" is born. Free will cannot exist without cause-and-effect. If we truly had free will, our actions would have no correlation to our environment at all ... but they do.

      Yes, I'm familiar with the Free Will arguments. That Will is predictable, given perfect knowledge of all the inputs and states (including quantum uncertainty) is true, but that knowledge is unattainable, so 'free will' is used to describe an abstraction of the human experience. The same could be said of any of the other human mental states - anger, love, happiness, sadness, calmness, inspiration, depression. That one can explain the hormones or neurotransmitters involved in creating those states does not make the words less useful for describing the human condition.

      This isn't superstition, though, it's pragmatism. Sitting around in a nihilistic funk winds up not being a useful exercise. Using these abstractions lets us talk about humanity. Describing the mechanics lets us talk about a human being. Simply describing the anatomy and physiology is insufficient to describe the emergent behavioral features.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    11. Re:Pine tree lung by sonnejw0 · · Score: 1

      You brought up "intention" by suggesting brains are different than bark in some fundamental way (interestingly, "cortex" is latin for "bark"), but that's simply not true. And now you're backing down by saying it's semantics, when it's not, it's a fundamental Aristotle v Plato world view difference.
      The same biochemical processes underlie the functions of both neurons and plant cells. But just because the brain is a very complex system does not mean we have to invent some "emergent" property ... that's just calling it a 'black box' and ignoring the complexity when truly it's just a matter of buckling down and looking at it. Sure the components don't describe the whole, that's what synergism is for; but synergism is sufficient to describe the behavioural effects of neural networks.
      It's not a matter of not having the tools, it's a matter of not having the patience.

    12. Re:Pine tree lung by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      but synergism is sufficient to describe the behavioural effects of neural networks.

      So, your problem is with putting a name to the various resultant forms of that synergism?

      Do emotions exist?

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    13. Re:Pine tree lung by McGiraf · · Score: 1

      no.

    14. Re:Pine tree lung by ZosX · · Score: 1

      Except that plants don't have intentions (doesn't take away from a silly horror flick, of course).

      How would we possibly know whether plants have intentions or not?

      --
      zosxavius photography
    15. Re:Pine tree lung by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      How would we possibly know whether plants have intentions or not?

      There's no indication that plants have any thoughts at all. Intentions are a subset.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  6. My mom used to tell me... by ITBurnout · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...not to inhale my food. Guess she was right.

    1. Re:My mom used to tell me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only inhaling raw food is a problem.

  7. Farmville by kriston · · Score: 2, Funny

    This Farmville player is asking you for a PEA IN HIS LUNG for his farm!

    --

    Kriston

    1. Re:Farmville by need4mospd · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Am I the only one that thought of R. Kelly when you said pea in his lung?

    2. Re:Farmville by jamesh · · Score: 1

      Am I the only one that thought of R. Kelly when you said pea in his lung?

      Yes. Yes you were.

  8. Nothing to see here ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... just one of those Monsanto terminator seeds

  9. This really is by ciderbrew · · Score: 5, Funny

    a 'Lung'gume.

    Hmmm Hmmm. see what I did there.

    1. Re:This really is by Tejin · · Score: 1

      Rosebud Snow Peas! Full of green pea-ness.

      --
      The seekers do no need truth, the seekers do find truth and the finding do be painful
    2. Re:This really is by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      a 'Lung'gume.

      My oft-referred-to "punishing" sense of humour doffs it's hat in recognition of a fellow-traveller. Ouch!

      by ciderbrew (1860166)

      And my oft-exercised tin-lifting arm raises a tin in your direction >| clunk |<

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  10. SMBC by Issildur03 · · Score: 1

    http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1731#comic

  11. is it Monsanto pea? by stanlyb · · Score: 0, Troll

    If it is Monsanto's property, they are gonna sue his lung for IP infringement, and then they will force him to breath only Monsanto approved air, for the appropriate price of course.

    1. Re:is it Monsanto pea? by Abstrackt · · Score: 1

      Nah, they'd just sue him and force him to commit seppuku.

      --
      They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance. - Terry Pratchett
    2. Re:is it Monsanto pea? by confused+one · · Score: 1

      Not quite. but they will sue him and demand he return all infringing material -- meaning the seed, plants, harvested crop... and the lung they're attached to.

  12. Plants vs. Zombies 2 by nickruiz · · Score: 1

    Just when you thought you could trust the plants....

    1. Re:Plants vs. Zombies 2 by naz404 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Clearly, this was a pre-emptive strike against his impending zombification.

      --
      http://www.object404.com
  13. I must be missing something by UberMorlock · · Score: 0

    How is this at all "News for nerds" OR "Stuff that matters"?

    1. Re:I must be missing something by oodaloop · · Score: 1

      It's not. That's why it's in Idle.

      --
      Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
  14. I heard about this from a doctor involved with it by exolete · · Score: 1

    ... apparently it was only discovered when he went for an unrelated consultation with a podiatrist.

  15. I have some trouble believing this by ralfmuschall · · Score: 1

    Raw ripe peas are almost as hard as stones and indigestible (it takes soaking for a day and cooking for at least half an hour before the are edible (there are breeds of pea which can be eaten raw, but only the very young unripe fruits, which would not germinate)). I'd like to know what he really did.

    1. Re:I have some trouble believing this by natehoy · · Score: 1

      Ignoring the obvious fact that you appear to have confused peas and beans (peas will germinate quite nicely while still moist and tasty, you dry them out to preserve the seed for the winter), the fact that the plant was in his lung probably means he somehow inhaled it. Maybe his kid got ahold of one when he was planting his garden, put it in a slingshot, and shot it at him just as he shouted at the kid to stop stealing dried peas. Kid hits him in the mouth just as he inhales - hey presto - viable seed in a moisture-rich environment.

      --
      "This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
    2. Re:I have some trouble believing this by confused+one · · Score: 1

      more likely he just coughed and inhaled.

  16. Mameshiba! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hey, did you know that under certain circumstances, a pea can grow in your lungs?

    "I'm not hungry now."

    Mameshiba~!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss6d3ogxfXc

  17. Watch out for legal department, not PR by JimWise · · Score: 1

    "How did the pea roots deal with the patient's immune system? What would have happened if the situation had continued un-treated? I bet the guy has a career awaiting him in PR for a pea-growing company." I highly doubt any company wants to use him for PR, but Monsanto may be looking into how to sue him for patent infringement, since he apparently took their patented herbicide resistant strains and modified them to be antibody resistant.

  18. Chewbacca has a message for this guy by macraig · · Score: 1

    Chew, dammit!

    1. Re:Chewbacca has a message for this guy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Chew, baka

      FTFY.

  19. Re:Massachusetts, UK? by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Is this Massachusetts, UK? I ask because I'm reading this on the bbc.co.uk, and I figured if this was in the US then shouldn't this be on some Boston news website?

    Wow...

    Maybe Slashdot registration should include a test of cognitive skills.

    --

    "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  20. didn't read it right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    at first i read it as "man takes up 'internet' farming" and i was like, so what? anyone can open a facebook account

  21. I once knew a girl... by stevegee58 · · Score: 1

    ...LOL you have a filthy, filthy mind.

    Seriously I knew a girl who developed a severe earache a few weeks after her honeymoon to Yellowstone and saw the doctor about it. He looked in her ear with an otoscope and saw something sticking out from behind her eardrum. It was a germinating seed that had lodged in her ear wax and taken root behind her eardrum. The theory was that the seed blue in during a particularly windy, dusty day during the Yellowstone trip.

    1. Re:I once knew a girl... by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      I heard a similar tale a long time ago - from the friend of a friend, who had recently graduated as a medic - of something unpleasant growing in a particularly dirty belly-button.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  22. Did it grow, or did it just "sprout"? by Securityemo · · Score: 1

    I remember putting a spieces of peas in glasses of water as a child, and they sprouted roots even though they had no nutrients. Presumably they carry a reserve in themselves to kick-start the process, as they well can't get nutrients without a root system?

    --
    Emotions! In your brain!
    1. Re:Did it grow, or did it just "sprout"? by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      I remember putting a spieces of peas in glasses of water as a child, and they sprouted roots even though they had no nutrients. Presumably they carry a reserve in themselves to kick-start the process, as they well can't get nutrients without a root system?

      Your logic is impeccable, and you can perform the appropriate experiments yourself.

      Get some fresh peas (other seed types may be better, but peas should work) and examine them carefully. You'll find that they have two similar hemispheres with a small "embryo" plantlet between them. With a modicum of practice you should be able to demonstrate that either hemisphere in contact with the embryo should be able to germinate.

      Analogously (well ... plant biologists may quibble), you can consider the "embryo" plantlet as if it were a chicken or frog embryo while the (two) hemispheres constitute a food store analogous to the yoke of the vertebrate egg. (Actually, the embryo+yolk arrangement long predates the origin of the vertebrates, and may predate the separation of the proterostomes and deuterostomes. It may be even older - but that's stretching my biology to it's elastic limit.)

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  23. So, we could say... by garg0yle · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...he's achieved inner peas?

    --
    Modding "-1, Troll" is not a proper response if you disagree with me. Try reason.
    1. Re:So, we could say... by dintech · · Score: 1

      He must be peased.

    2. Re:So, we could say... by WeatherGod · · Score: 1
      ::applauds::

      I bow to you, good sir...

  24. Give Peas a Chance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I was kinda hoping the surgeons would announce their discovery on a dry-erase board.

  25. How about internal hookworm farming? Serious! by droopus · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I was watching one of the weird science documentaries my wife loves and saw one that beats this story by a bit. Jasper Lawrence had severe asthma and allergies and heard an old wives tale that hookworms could force the body's immune system to "cure" the allergies...so he went to Africa, stamped around in feces and got a nice case of hookworm. It worked.

    Now, he has set up a business selling hookworms he harvests from his own feces.

    --
    "The pie shall be cut in half and each man shall receive.....death. I'll eat the pie."
    1. Re:How about internal hookworm farming? Serious! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Quit shilling your services, fecal freak.

    2. Re:How about internal hookworm farming? Serious! by droopus · · Score: 1

      Um, if you think I was actually doing anything but saying "look at THIS revolting practice" y'all need your receptors checked.

      --
      "The pie shall be cut in half and each man shall receive.....death. I'll eat the pie."
    3. Re:How about internal hookworm farming? Serious! by DocSavage64109 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, that's what all the shills say. ;)

    4. Re:How about internal hookworm farming? Serious! by treeves · · Score: 1

      Both This American Life and Radiolab did stories about that guy. Apparently, he had to move his business overseas due to FDA or some other regulations.

      --
      ...the future crusty old bastards are already drinking the Kool-Aid.
    5. Re:How about internal hookworm farming? Serious! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      similar
      http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2009/10/22/2721765.htm

      apparently all the trialers kept the hookworm

  26. So this is what happens... by ilsaloving · · Score: 2, Funny

    So this is what happens when you give peas a chance?

  27. Self sustained oxygen by dsmoses · · Score: 1

    Since plants give off oxygen, if this had gotten large enough, he could have had a self sustaining oxygen supply without the need to breathe air...

    1. Re:Self sustained oxygen by TheCarp · · Score: 1

      Well the obvious need for light would put a damper on this.

      I have often wondered if it would convey any advantage for humans to have chloroplasts in their skin.

      I have to imagine that it wouldn't be enough surface area, CO2, and Light to actually need to not breath... so probably little to no advantage.

      But thats just my guess.

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    2. Re:Self sustained oxygen by jdoverholt · · Score: 1

      I'm so glad I'm not the only one thinking about this. Doesn't seem like it should be all that hard of an upgrade, right? Just splice in the appropriate plant DNA and whamo, green skin! In addition to not needing to breathe (as much) you might be able to yield ATP from them and not have to eat (as much) either.

      Some people really shouldn't be allowed in a biology classroom :-(

    3. Re:Self sustained oxygen by TheCarp · · Score: 1

      Actually yes, that should work. Even if it could provide enough sugar to transport around and make ATP, it wouldn't diminish the need for vitamins, fiber (gotta keep that digestive tract flowing), and protein. In fact, it might add slightly to dietary requirements with other minerals needed for the chloroplasts.... might need a bit more Mg to produce chlorophyll?

      In any case yes, some people shouldn't be allowed in a bio class. I too am one of them.

      I still think the surface area to volume ratio would render such a "splice" to have very limited value.

      -Steve

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
  28. Unintentionally ! by JonStewartMill · · Score: 1

    I thought this was going to be an article about the guy who raises hookworms in his own body and sells them on the Internet.

  29. Did the doctors examine the guy's brain? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Probably not or they would have found another pea (brain)...
    I have heard of "inhaling" food but never literally before.

  30. BAD TITLE! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Some extremely unsettling visions assaulted me before I understood what was going on.

  31. A4Q by blair1q · · Score: 4, Informative

    How did the pea roots deal with the patient's immune system?

    They didn't have to. The immune system is largely inactive in and oblivious to the airspace of the lung. It would only be when the roots breached the walls and entered the blood that the immune system would get wise.

    What would have happened if the situation had continued un-treated?

    If it had continued to grow and tore a hole in the lung he could have got infection-like symptoms (fevers and aches as the body ramped up production of leukocytes).

    If it had died it would become food for bacteria in the air, and it would have decayed in situ. That would have made a gooey mess.

    It gave him what TFA called emphysema, or maybe they meant he really has a prior diagnosis for emphysema so he thought this was more of that and didn't do anything with it until it became acute.

    He probably would also have contracted (or had and they weren't reporting) a bad case of pneumonia. The more stuff in your lungs that isn't lung, the easier that is.

    BTW, BT, DT, and there's not much better in life than to get a result of "it's not cancer it's something weird" when your lungs hurt.

    bet the guy has a career awaiting him in PR for a pea-growing company.

    Or a lawsuit waiting for him from the trademark-trolling division of Archer-Daniels Midland, for using their logo in his x-rays without paying a royalty.

    Lung....

    Lunnnnnnggggg....

    Lovely, woody word....lunnnnnggg...

    1. Re:A4Q by naoursla · · Score: 2, Funny

      I was thinking that Monsanto was going to sue him for using their patented lung-resistant pea seeds.

    2. Re:A4Q by H0p313ss · · Score: 1

      Lung....

      Lunnnnnnggggg....

      Lovely, woody word....lunnnnnggg...

      Sounds a bit tinny to me.

      --
      XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
    3. Re:A4Q by Gaffod · · Score: 1

      They didn't have to. The immune system is largely inactive in and oblivious to the airspace of the lung. It would only be when the roots breached the walls and entered the blood that the immune system would get wise.

      No, you are quite confused. Species of leukocytes often squeeze through capillary walls to exit the bloodstream, wander around in the tissue, and go back. The immune system is very active in the lung, it would be absurd for it to be inactive in a site so exposed to pathogens (frequent inhalation, thin epithelium). In fact, the inflammation-like context is one reason that the lung is a common site for metastatic cancers.

      Now "dealing" with the roots, I don't know. Would you expect the macrophages to swallow the roots whole? B-cells producing antibodies to aggregate the plant? Normal plants already survive much harsher environments than mere immune systems, they grow on soil exposed to the elements.

  32. Likely employer... by thewiz · · Score: 1

    "I bet the guy has a career awaiting him in PR for a pea-growing company."

    Green Giant Vegetables, of course.

    Ho ho ho.

    --
    If "disco" means "I learn" in Latin, does "discothèque" mean "I learn technology"?
  33. Plants vs. Zombies by mseeger · · Score: 1

    Don't want zombies in my lung ....

    1. Re:Plants vs. Zombies by confused+one · · Score: 1

      The pea shooter was just trying to be proactive and get a head start. The guy wasn't a zombie yet; but...

  34. His mom warned him for years... by croftj · · Score: 1

    to not inhale his supper!

    --
    -- Many men would appreciate a woman's mind more if they could fondle it
  35. I though that said Internet farming by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I thought - That's not news.

     

  36. Bizarre Human-Plant Hybrid Experiment by oldmac31310 · · Score: 1

    Mendel meets Mengele

    --
    http://www.acetonestudio.com
  37. Evolution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    in the making, and a great marketing ploy! Tired of breathing? Want to live under water? Try Apple's new Lung-pod! The Lung-pod provides oxygen directly to the lungs without need to breath in or out, and uses the carbon dioxide in your recycled air to fuel itself! Buy your new Lung-pod today! ** May cause cough, irritation, and a yearning for sunlight **

  38. Notice to all men by raddan · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    The next time your girlfriend/wife/significant other says "pee in me", they might mean something else.

    1. Re:Notice to all men by oldmac31310 · · Score: 1

      WTF???

      --
      http://www.acetonestudio.com
    2. Re:Notice to all men by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      The next time your girlfriend/wife/significant other says "pee in me",

      This is more freaky the more I look at it. I'm not sure which is freakier - that your gf/w/so seems to use terminology like that, or that you seem to have swallowed it (the terminology), ummm, whole and un-diluted.

      Then again, you might be taking the piss.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  39. Symbiotics for a Self Sustaining Life by LifesABeach · · Score: 1

    With my daughter gunning for a major in Environmental Science, my first thought was, "What is the optimal design for generating sufficient food for one, four, 100, and 20K humans?" Besides the obvious answer of, "Planet Earth".

  40. God's sense of humour by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "He is currently recovering at home with his wife Nancy, who joked that God must have a sense of humour."

    Why do statements like this irritate the f*** out of me?

  41. Call Back by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 1

    This is how Mendel died.

  42. Safe from Monsanto! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well at least he had it removed before Monsanto sued him for infringing on their new patent "Pea plant that grows inside human lung"

  43. Uh-oh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hope that Pea didn't come from Monsanto GM seeds, otherwise he better get ready for an epic lawsuit.

  44. Old news by dotfile · · Score: 1

    So now we're just re-posting old shit from every other news source? I read this on the BBC News feed a couple of days ago, and it's been banging around since well before then.
    http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/12001910794327/man-finds-plant-growing-inside-his-lung/ (8/9)
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10945050 (8/11)

    1. Re:Old news by painandgreed · · Score: 1

      So now we're just re-posting old shit from every other news source?

      You must be new here.

      Welcome to /.

    2. Re:Old news by dotfile · · Score: 1

      I'm not, I've just been noticing over the past several months that the signal to noise ratio is getting far worse. I suppose quantity, not quality, must sell more ad space.

    3. Re:Old news by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      Well, it was news to me when I did my regular scan of the news yesterday morning. And yes, I do find the SNR of SlashDolt annoyingly high, but it's probably lower than other places. That is really annoying.

      Hmm, I really should pay more attention to alternatives. What was that thing that Dawn suggested a while back on Dawkins.Net? ...

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
    4. Re:Old news by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      Either s/SNR/NSR/
      or ( s/high/low/ and s/lower/higher/ ) .
      Doh!

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  45. Soylent Peas are People by davetgra · · Score: 1

    Soylent Peas are People!

  46. Monsanto is suing him by goombah99 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Turns out it's a GMO round-up ready pea mutant. Monsanto is suing him for using their genetic material without paying for it.

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    1. Re:Monsanto is suing him by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      Monsanto is suing him

      Hadn't thought of that one. Though obviously lots of other people did.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
    2. Re:Monsanto is suing him by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Monsanto is suing him for using their genetic material without paying for it.

      You mean Monsanto fucked him?

    3. Re:Monsanto is suing him by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can hear the commercials now:

      Ho Ho Ho... ... Breath problem

      Well bless your little pea aspiratin' lung.

  47. This has happened to me also :( by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm gonna Anonymous this one....although I think my brother reads /. and will remember this :)

    When I was a kid I got frequent nosebleeds. My parents didn't know why my nose would just start to bleed. One day a kid ran over my foot with his bike and my nose started to bleed so they finally said enough is enough and took me to the doctor. The doctor took a look in my nose and found that a pea had taken root in my septum and was actually growing, causing the nosebleeds. He figured I must have shoved the pea up my nose when I was eating (I of course do not remember this happening)...

  48. Jordy Verill by Lovesquid · · Score: 1

    Did he step in Meteor Shit, by any chance?

  49. Spruce branch section in lung by Kvasio · · Score: 1

    Some thirty years ago I've heard of a guy that was in his forties and had had a section of spruce branch discovered in his lung. He claimed that he "swallowed" this small secton when he was a toddler.

    The needles on the branch were still green on discovery!

  50. Re:The answer by Sulphur · · Score: 1

    What are all these pods doing here?

  51. Sounds like an X-File by mim · · Score: 1

    Where are Mulder & Scully when you need them?

  52. Some legitimate studies by Fencepost · · Score: 1

    I know someone with multiple sclerosis/MS, and there are some legitimate studies of this sort of thing going on related to MS and other autoimmune diseases. Apparently there was some sort of study done in south america where the control group had multiple relapses (MS attacks) but the group with intestinal parasites had basically none over the course of the study. That's prompted further studies involving pig whipworms (which don't thrive and reproduce in humans), along with the obvious investigations of the mechanisms involved. I believe the same thing is also being looked at for Crohn's.

    --
    fencepost
    just a little off
  53. Treatment known since 1947 by the_whaa · · Score: 1

    This was known since 1947, including treatment. Prestigious French botanist Floris Vian describes such a case in his work where a water lily grown into a lung was almost successfully treated by surrounding the patient with flowers. Unfortunately they ran so much out of funds that even the roof of the building collapsed. So in this case they should have surrounded him with lots of vegetables.