Growing Human Organs… in pigs
I read this article this morning, and it kinda bugged me out:
Scientists have found they can create chimeric animals that have organs belonging to another species by injecting stem cells into the embryo of another species.
The researchers say the technique could allow pigs to grow human organs from patient’s stem cells for use as transplants.
By using a patient’s own stem cells it could help to reduce the risk of the transplanted organ being rejected while also providing a plentiful supply of donor organs.
Current organ shortages mean that patients must endure long waiting lists for transplants. (Click here to read the full article on this research)
Now, this is all well and good for people on transplant waiting lists, but I wonder about whether or not I’d want this pig grown organ. Besides ethical issues, it just sounds kinda nasty. All in all, this could be a major breakthrough, years in the making. Now, just wait til the church gets a hold of this.
Geese Clear Himalayas
Bar-headed geese fly up and over breathtakingly high passes in the Himalayas in just eight hours without rest or the help of tailwinds, satellite tracking shows.
Researchers had previously known that the geese undertake one of the highest-altitude migrations in the world, flapping their way over snowy peaks through thin mountain air that leaves human adventurers gasping for breath and struggling to walk. But they didn’t know how fast the birds could climb over 6,000-metre ridges from their breeding grounds in Mongolia to their winter refuges in India. (Source)