stem cells found in adults
 

thats right in the U of M(I think that was were it was) the have found stem cells in adults yet there are very few of them and they have yet to find how potent they are. if this works out (or is true newspapers aren't very reliable today) there will be no moral debate seeing as it won't kill the person with the stem cells and thousands of lives will possibly be saved.

edit: people have created working cow kidneys and they have been working for months

[ January 31, 2002: Message edited by: Steve ]

*nods* I think there's been discussion about using adult stem cells for quite a long time now - they're found mainly in bone marrow (where red blood cells develop). Trouble is, they can't get them to differentiate as well as those from a foetus - foetal stem-cells have the potential to turn into any type of organ in the body, whereas (I understand) adult stem cells are more restricted.

On the subject of cow kidneys... cows grow cow kidneys as well, and as I understand it they work pretty well, as well... ;)

ell, seeing as that news was old apparently I'll say something that is relatively new. medtronic has recently gotten FDA approval of a new spine graphting(sp?) method. The old spine graphting method required 2 operations one to shave bone from your hip and another one to put that bone in your spine where it will eventually grow back. This new thing only requires one surgery, they put a sponge in your spine. The sponge by itself isn't very interesting, but it is soaked in genetically engineered proteins, which promote growth of bones. if this is old please feel free to insult me.