hi william:
(also my youngest son's name)
your post shows you are thinking about these transplant issues.
i think the coin toss is still in the air :-)
i'll throw in a few more possibilities --
just to confuse things more, if you don't mind.
this is just off the top of my head
and, therefor not complete,
but, something to think about.
> William Taggart wrote:
>
> Xenotransplant, autotransplant or donated human cells?
your definitions were good
>
> Hi Jim:
>
> I read your earlier messages about being on that committee.
> Congratulations and Good Work! Your personal story (your diary) makes
> fascinating reading.
>
> Which do you believe will be first to become a practical procedure that
> some of us might participate in?:
>
> - Xenotransplant = cells from another species, probably porcine cells;
> or
problem with using different species which would introduce
new retroviral DNA into the human DNA genome
has slowed clinical trials
we eat pork, and beef, and chicken, etc...
like we aren't intimately exposed already.
also, we will be growing human organs in animals
and harvesting them to transplant into humans
recently human stem cells grew brain tissue in a mouse
(i went off on a Stuart Little tangent)
but when things are worked out in mice
we go on to primates
there are issues about feeling sorry for the animals (ethics?)
as they will need to lead lives immuno-suppessed
in totally sterile environments,
and then die so that one of us will live.
like what farmers do in huge confinement production facilities,
but, for our food!
>
> - Autotransplant = collection, processing and implanting of one's own
> cells; or
>
this is the ideal
eventually the best clinical procedure
but, custom for each patient
like the xenoplant idea
whole organs will be hard to grow in a petri dish
and animals willl help--possibly
we still need embryonic stem cell research
to know what we're doing
like what is the correct order of differentiation?
what genes need to be activated
in what order?
we can work that out in animals
> - Donated human cells = the collecting, processing and implantation of
> cells of a third party (parties); or
>
tissue typed cell cultures from fetal sources, or adult donors
very efficient and speedy
get it off the shelf
may need immunosuppression
umbilical cord blood banks--
what to do with some of the "leftovers"
or blood that the donor
no longer wants/can to pay for liquid nitrogen storage
(but, not whole organs from cloned humans)
that is a nasty thought
the ultimate to avoid
or genetically transformed cells
> - Other cell implant protocol?
encapsulated animal cells
encapsulated tumor cells
(this have been proposed to produce dopamine for us parkies)
but, i think complexities abound
there was something else that escapes me now
oh well
keep hoping
that the puzzle pieces
will start fitting
Ray Strand
Prairie Sky Design
-----------------( on the Edge of the Prairie Abyss )---------------
when the sky is clear
the ground is visible
49/dx PD 2 yrs/40? onset/retired
