Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Scientists Grow Working Vocal Cord Tissue In the Lab (sciencemag.org)

Posted by samzenpus on from the giving-a-voice dept.

sciencehabit writes that tissue engineers have for the first time grown vocal cords from human cells. Science reports: "For the first time, scientists have created vocal cord tissue starting with cells from human vocal cords. When tested in the lab, the bioengineered tissue vibrated—and even sounded—similar to the natural thing. The development could one day help those with severely damaged vocal cords regain their lost voices. 'It’s an exciting finding because those patients are the ones we have very few treatment options for,' says Jennifer Long, a voice doctor and scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, head and neck surgery department, who wasn’t involved in the study."

25 comments

  1. And here are the first words it spoke by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 1

    Killlll meeeeee

    1. Re:And here are the first words it spoke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Killlll meeeeee

      It could talk without a brain? There is finally an explanation for Rush Limbaugh!

    2. Re:And here are the first words it spoke by poetmatt · · Score: 2

      That's only if you put the vocal cords inside his anus.

    3. Re:And here are the first words it spoke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's only if you put the vocal cords inside his anus.

      If Rush is doing it, it must be right...

      for a complete fucking idiot!

  2. Nothing new. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They were doing this in Brazil in the late sixties. Slashdot always links to bullshit "news" like this. Get it together.

    1. Re:Nothing new. by muecksteiner · · Score: 1

      Source or it didn't happen?

  3. Does that mean that they can make... by Sla$hPot · · Score: 0

    Singing robots?

    1. Re:Does that mean that they can make... by show+me+altoids · · Score: 1

      With autotune and all the other processing they do to pop music, we essentially have that now.

      --
      I feel sorry for people that don't drink, because when they get up in the morning, that's as good as they're gonna feel
    2. Re:Does that mean that they can make... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Does this mean I can hope to have Robert Plant-like voice someday?

  4. trans surgery progresses by turkeydance · · Score: 1

    one of the two things that current re-assignment surgery doesn't do is voice correction. boys still sound like boys. yes, training can obscure the obvious, but only so much. the other thing is hands. yes, boy hands stand out. i'm guessing that's next.

    1. Re:trans surgery progresses by Kellamity · · Score: 1

      There are several surgeries but their effectiveness isn't that great. An acquaintance went to South Korea for hers and she doesn't sound much different. But I'm sure plenty of trans women would pay top dollar for something that actually works.

    2. Re:trans surgery progresses by wierd_w · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I always see the differences in facial bone structure. Male heads are just morphologically different from female heads. They just are.

    3. Re:trans surgery progresses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hope that you manage to be polite about it.

    4. Re:trans surgery progresses by mjr167 · · Score: 1

      This is the first use that leaps to mind? Not giving voices back to people that have lost them due to cancer, injuries, etc?

    5. Re:trans surgery progresses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I never post on Slashdot as an AC, but in this circumstance I greatly fear outing myself to those that would do me harm.

      It's the first thing that entered *my* mind too. I'm a transwoman 2+ months in on my hormone replacement therapy, suffering almost 24/7 coping with gender dysphoria and having a broken off switch for my fight or flight mode. Though every trans* person has their own journey, I in particular constantly worry about well I will eventually be able to blend into society, to have my physical outside match my gender on the inside. Will I eventually instinctively be identified by others as a woman? Present socially as a woman? Have an accurate, passing *VOICE* that falls into your standard female voice spectrum?

      So yes, how fucking selfish of me to think of other life-changing potential uses before the more commonly thought of ones. "If you ain't first, you're last" Ricky Bobby-esque mentality much?

  5. How long by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How long before this becomes a real surgical option?

  6. Mephisto and Kevin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If only Dr Artie Abe Sacrabin had tried this instead of selective breeding

  7. VOCAL CHORD PARASITES by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It was either this or we all needed learn to speak Diné.

  8. They killed a canine for this ... by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 0

    In order to test if the vocal cord is capable to produce any sound they killed a dog, and then use the dead dog's vocal box to test that vocal cord ,,, all in the name of science ...

    --
    Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
    1. Re:They killed a canine for this ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, good. One dead dog, several human lives empowered. Easy trade.

    2. Re:They killed a canine for this ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You lie. It just says cadaver dogs, which could have died of natural causes.

  9. Voices for the Voiceless by The+Eight-Bit+Link · · Score: 1

    This is actually pretty awesome. People like Tsunku who have lost their voice to cancer or other diseases now have hope of regaining their voice. Now all we need is a surgery to actually put this to use

  10. PFunk! by Matheus · · Score: 1

    George Clinton destroyed his voice years ago with a variety of bad habits... it's honestly a bit painful to hear him sing after so many years of that deep beautiful rich voice. If we can get George a new set of chords that would be amazing :)

  11. Working vocal cords are a dime a dozen. by Pseudonymous+Powers · · Score: 1

    What the world really needs now is more working ears, am I right?