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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."

12 of 25 comments (clear)

  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.

  2. 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 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?

  3. 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
  4. Re:Nothing new. by muecksteiner · · Score: 1

    Source or it didn't happen?

  5. 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

  6. 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 :)

  7. 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?