The genetic engineering methods used here aren't new. Retroviruses have been around longer than humans have, and we all have copies of DNA in our genome which is thought to have been introduced by retroviruses. The scientists involved here are to be congratulated for using a potentially damaging phenomenon to allow someone to live a normal, healthy life.
As an immunologist, I am blown away by the fact that these guys have managed to recreate an entire immune system from scratch for this kid. Furthernore, only the immune system cells within this kid have the altered genome, thus it isn't going to be passed on to his offspring - this is sure to calm some of the alarmists out there that worry about Nazism and teleogy becoming more popular through scientific progress.
This technique has the potential to wipe out the majority of immune system disorders in the world today, from autoimmune diseases like Multiple Sclerosis and Lupus to immunodeficiency disorders such as AIDS, and even some forms of diabetes. I hope everyone that reads this article realises how huge this really is.
Finally I'd like to say to all those people that have the urge to bash such scientific advances - put yourself in the shoes of someone who is suffering one of the diseases that this and other controversial fields of science can one day cure (perhaps sooner than you think). The fear and loathing of this kind of advancement is a direct result of ignorance, and the further away from such issues people are, the more idealistic and judgemental they become. I doubt whether the parents of this boy give a damn where the stem cells came from or how they were altered before they cured their son.
I managed to get a panic when I accidentally disconnected a file-shared laptop from my G4 - you get printed code over the top of the finder, and a cool repeated pinging sound starts up. OS X rocks - hardly ever goes down, and when it does, it turns into a brilliant machine that goes "ping".....wow.....
Check it out! Freud is alive! Hey, Sigmund, what's your secret?
And your Mac/Linux user bashing has...what was it...."deep psychological underpinnings" in what exactly?
Slashdot Mirror
....do we really NEED to go this fast? "Won't someone PLEEASE think of the children?!"
The genetic engineering methods used here aren't new. Retroviruses have been around longer than humans have, and we all have copies of DNA in our genome which is thought to have been introduced by retroviruses. The scientists involved here are to be congratulated for using a potentially damaging phenomenon to allow someone to live a normal, healthy life. As an immunologist, I am blown away by the fact that these guys have managed to recreate an entire immune system from scratch for this kid. Furthernore, only the immune system cells within this kid have the altered genome, thus it isn't going to be passed on to his offspring - this is sure to calm some of the alarmists out there that worry about Nazism and teleogy becoming more popular through scientific progress. This technique has the potential to wipe out the majority of immune system disorders in the world today, from autoimmune diseases like Multiple Sclerosis and Lupus to immunodeficiency disorders such as AIDS, and even some forms of diabetes. I hope everyone that reads this article realises how huge this really is. Finally I'd like to say to all those people that have the urge to bash such scientific advances - put yourself in the shoes of someone who is suffering one of the diseases that this and other controversial fields of science can one day cure (perhaps sooner than you think). The fear and loathing of this kind of advancement is a direct result of ignorance, and the further away from such issues people are, the more idealistic and judgemental they become. I doubt whether the parents of this boy give a damn where the stem cells came from or how they were altered before they cured their son.
I managed to get a panic when I accidentally disconnected a file-shared laptop from my G4 - you get printed code over the top of the finder, and a cool repeated pinging sound starts up. OS X rocks - hardly ever goes down, and when it does, it turns into a brilliant machine that goes "ping".....wow.....
Just popped over from your favourite xenophobia web site didja? You pathetic piece of trash.
Check it out! Freud is alive! Hey, Sigmund, what's your secret? And your Mac/Linux user bashing has...what was it...."deep psychological underpinnings" in what exactly?
Heeeeheeeeeee! (snort) Heeeeheeeee!