In 2021 You'll Grow a New Heart

[kwikdriver]

Although doctors may someday heal weakened body parts by infusing them with stem cells that develop into specialized tissues, coaxing the body’s own cells to become self-repairing would be an even bigger biological coup. What if we could simply prompt damaged organs to repair themselves?
Glenn Larsen, the chief scientific officer at Hydra Biosciences in Boston, has been chasing this regenerative dream for the past four years. With help from a team of Harvard University researchers, Larsen and his colleagues are developing protein-based drugs that encourage the regrowth of muscle tissue that has died after a heart attack.

“The heart is constantly secreting chemical factors it needs to maintain itself,” Larsen explains. “All we’re doing is trying to enhance that.” Fair enough, but his company is likely to be the first to take the revolutionary step of harnessing these natural processes to grow new tissue where and when it is needed. With restored heart-muscle function, patients would be able to resume swimming, running or just gardening much sooner. They would also be less prone to congestive heart failure, which kills more than 50,000 Americans every year.

The strategy Larsen envisions is simple, though groundbreaking. Patients will use a self-delivery device, such as an inhaler or supersonic drug gun, to propel the regenerative protein molecules into their bloodstream. The circulating molecules will bind to receptors on the surfaces of their damaged heart-muscle cells, touching off a chemical reaction that mutes the activity of genes inhibiting cell division. Once this biological switch has been thrown, new heart cells will begin to develop, filling in the dead-tissue gaps. The result: Within a few weeks, heart-muscle function will be permanently restored.

Human trials of Hydra’s cardiac drugs won’t begin for another few years, but experimental evidence already points to the treatment’s potential. Last year, Hydra researchers induced heart attacks in rats, then dosed them with CRF-1, one of the protein compounds under investigation, for 10 days. A month after their heart attacks, the rats receiving treatment demonstrated heart-muscle function that was about 20 percent better than that of the control group.

“Can we get regeneration to work? The answer is yes,” says Mark Keating, a Hydra co-founder and the head of human genetics at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “By releasing the genetic brakes, so to speak, it’s possible to get different types of cells to proliferate.”

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/medicine/8b823b576ce1b010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html

[Nancy LC]

I've lived long enough to know that these predictions never come true. Anyone remember how much leisure time it was predicted we all would have in the 21st century? Har, har!

[kwikdriver]

I dunno. We've got organ transplants, even face transplants now. About 10 years ago face transplants were in the realm of science fiction -- remember the movie Face/Off? As long as we don't wipe ourselves out with it, I'm pretty confident that with time, technology will solve just about all our physical problems. Like Whoa, I can even foresee a time when near or total immortality will be possible through technology. My guess is when the breakthroughs start coming, they will be rapid and transformational. In 100 years, it's quite probable none of us would recognize the world we've built. Or maybe that's just my optimistic nature speaking ;)

[Nancy LC]

I'll believe it when I get my aforementioned leisure time and self-driving cars. LOL! It is utterly hilarious to see those old-timey predictions from the 1970's and 1980's.

[kwikdriver]

I'll believe it when I get my aforementioned leisure time and self-driving cars. LOL! It is utterly hilarious to see those old-timey predictions from the 1970's and 1980's.


I was re-reading some Jules Verne, and realized he died almost exactly 100 years ago. ;)

[Nancy LC]

I realized that past predictions of the future would be a very humorous topic and surely some web sites out there must be collecting these expired visions.

Here's a few I've found:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june01/predictions.html

http://www.lucifer.com/~sasha/refs/pastpred.txt

http://www.yesterdaystomorrows.org/pastpredict.html

Many scholars of the past believed that the advances in technology would make life easier, and that by 2000, most adults would work only a few hours every week. Most daily tasks would be automated and computers or robots would be intelligent enough to complete them.
...
* "Inventions have long since reached their limit, and I see no hope for further developments," Roman engineer Julius Sextus Frontinus, A.D. 10.

* "Despite the trend to compactness and lower costs, it is unlikely everyone will have his own computer any time soon," Reporter Stanley Penn, The Wall Street Journal, 1966

* "By the turn of this century, we will live in a paperless society," Roger Smith, chairman of General Motors, 1986.


http://www.yesterdaystomorrows.org/newfront/imagine5.jpg

[kwikdriver]

I realized that past predictions of the future would be a very humorous topic and surely some web sites out there must be collecting these expired visions.

Here's a few I've found:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june01/predictions.html

http://www.lucifer.com/~sasha/refs/pastpred.txt

http://www.yesterdaystomorrows.org/pastpredict.html


Some predictions don't come true, therefore all predictions don't come true.
:(

[Nancy LC]

No, not at all. I am just verrrrrry skeptical. Most of the time the predictions never even predicted the really cool stuff.

There were some that were dead-on.

[ItsTheWooo]

I think many of the predictions were overly optimistic, because people could feel that life was suddenly about to get a LOT less "quaint". Human advances don't come in a slow trickle, they come in waves of floods and droughts. That's just the nature of trend and influence; one insight opens a thousand more, till the thought well dries up a bit, then you wait a bit for the next great insight.

The anticipation of new technology naturally built an excitement which, since human nature is predictable, turned into mass irrationality. 'OMG WE'LL HAVE ROBOTS TO CLEAN THE HOUSE" yadda yadda.

Another issue is a lot of the inventions they dream about are actually terrible ideas. It's a lot like TV shows; for every really great popular revolutionary success that people love, there were a million more that proved to have zero appeal and people laugh that some executive okayed it.
If you think about it you can even separate the bogus predictions from the good ones even today.
For example I was watching this thing on "the home of the future". They showed an "intelligent house" which automatically detects when your prescriptions run out , and reorders them for you, and informing you of the process with a voice.
Come on. Who the hell needs this? In order for this device to work you would have to spend a thousand years inputting all this data, who's going to want to do that? It's just easier to call yourself and get it reordered. If you want the convenience of not worrying about prescriptions running out, they *already* have arrangements where you can get your refills sent automatically that don't involve complicated unnecessary electronics as a middle man.

[arc]

The anticipation of new technology naturally built an excitement which, since human nature is predictable, turned into mass irrationality. 'OMG WE'LL HAVE ROBOTS TO CLEAN THE HOUSE" yadda yadda.

http://store.irobot.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=2174930&cp=2174940

:D

[kyrasdad]

I tend to agree with Kwik that the changes that are coming will be sweeping, with things coming we can't imagine in the next 100 years. I doubt we will recognize the world. Not all of these things will be positive, just as not all of the things we've invented in the last 100 years have been. Because we don't advance our technology on a linear line, 2106 will be radically more different than 2006 is from 1906.

[icedancer]

and that by 2000, most adults would work only a few hours every week...


Funny, I remember vividly my mother saying when I was 4 years old (1964) "If your father could just bring home (clear) $100 a week we'd be sitting pretty!"

Now, I make that much in a couple hours work....., clear it in say 4 hours, SOOOO, the preditions were true, they just didn't take into account INFLATION!

LOL
:lol:

[Nancy LC]

Yeah, you can detect the bogus sounding technology sometimes. Like the refrigerator that tells you what is inside without opening the door.

Although... perhaps if my pantry did that I wouldn't keep forgetting I have several bottles of Chinese 5 spice and keep bringing home more when I need it once every couple of years....

God knows, my life is so much better now that we have faucets in public restrooms that detect motion, and paper towel dispensers and self-flushing toilets.

Where's my dang 6 hour work week?

[Dodger]

The only way to forecast the future is to have been there. Until time travel is invented, all forecasts are suspect.

[danabear]

I think it's a definite possibility, especially if stem- cell research is able to move forward. If you could clone your own organs they would be the perfect match for a replacements ;)

[potatofree]

The way medicine keeps progressing, I honestly don't think it sounds all that far-fetched.

In the two years between the death of my OB/GYN's baby and the birth of my own under nearly identical circumstances, there were enough advances to allow my child to live, even though he has disabilities. In the 15 years since then, they have been able to save children less than half his birthweight and a MUCH larger percentage of them escape the kind of problems we have.

If not for the development of devices to control his hydrocephalus, he would be dead or would have lived out some sort of vegetative existance in one of the types of homes that cared for "waterhead babies" as they were called way back when. The ones who survived had heads that grew to such dimensions from the pressure of the fluid accumulation, they lived out their days in a bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Even now, they're perfecting surgeries to make the mechanical shunts that control Steven's pressure in his skull a thing of the past. They've had some success in surgically re-creating the drainage system that went wrong to start with.

I disagree that there are "Dry periods" where few advances are made. They may not make headlines, and some people might see it that you can't re-invent the wheel, but it's all happening out there somewhere. One person's small improvement is another's whole world.

[ImOnMyWay]

The strategy Larsen envisions is simple, though groundbreaking. Patients will use a self-delivery device, such as an inhaler or supersonic drug gun, to propel the regenerative protein molecules into their bloodstream. The circulating molecules will bind to receptors on the surfaces of their damaged heart-muscle cells, touching off a chemical reaction that mutes the activity of genes inhibiting cell division. Once this biological switch has been thrown, new heart cells will begin to develop, filling in the dead-tissue gaps. The result: Within a few weeks, heart-muscle function will be permanently restored.

I wonder what keeps cells from dividing uncontrollably if you suppress the gene that inhibit same? Isn't CANCER an uncontrolled, abnormal subdivision of cells? Still, I hope this guy succeeds...and others take his work to the next level. Think how cool it would be if you could regrow a limb!

[Paleoanth]

http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=79461

A Roswell man gave up on living, content to sit down and wait for his heart to kill him.

His family was not content. They searched and found something -- it would be a big gamble, but now the family says the payoff is nothing short of a miracle.

Bob Grinstead has traveled six months of the past year. He can clean the pool; he can do what he wants. His wife, Barbara, calls that a miracle.

“You reach over at night, and aren’t sure he’s alive to be there for you,” said Barbara Grinstead.

A year ago Bob had given up on living.

“I had basically decided I was going to read until I died,” said Bob.

Bob had four heart attacks; couldn’t raise his arms above his head; needed to sit to take a shower.

“He was dying. It was painful to watch,” said Bob’s daughter, Darla McKenzie.

Then Bob made a life-or-death gamble with a lot of money.

“When you put out $39,000, you hope it’s not a scam,” Bob said.

He had heard about a stem cell procedure in Bangkok. What grabbed his attention -- it used his own stem cells.

Daughter Darla went with her Mom and Dad to make sure they didn’t get ripped off.

Bob’s blood was drawn, sent to Israel where his stem cells were multiplied, then injected into the worst parts of his heart.

“It basically changed my life. I can do what I want to do,” Bob said.

Doctors say it caused small veins to grow so more blood can flow to his heart. Bob was the first person in the world to fly to Bangkok to have the procedure done.

“I’m still lazy,” Bob said. “I don’t exercise, but I could. That’s the good part.”

Bob is going to windsurf next month on a beach vacation.

The more controversial embryonic stem cells can be used to do more things. Adult stem cells are particularly effective around the heart.

[Equinox]

He got his life back, but he says he's still lazy. That pisses me off.

[kwikdriver]

He got his life back, but he says he's still lazy. That pisses me off.

He paid for it out of his own pocket. It's his heart, his life. He can be lazy if he wants, in my book. I'm happy he went out and did something like this, something experimental, and is sharing his story. That's a contribution I can benefit from.

[Frogbreath]

If I could make younger skin I'd do it. I'm beginning to look like a balloon that's losing all its air.

[betnich]

I'm still waiting for my personal hovercraft...

;-)

[Nancy LC]

As someone who has experienced "laziness" that was a side-effect of medical conditions that cause fatigue, I don't really think it is beneficial to take offense at someone elses laziness. He may not even be aware of underlying health conditions that could make him feel "lazy". I used to make myself feel bad about my "laziness" until I realized it wasn't really something I could control without medical assistance.

I'm sure lots of things other than some moral difficiency could be making him "lazy". Not enough oxygen, his body healing, some hormonal deficiency or perhaps his heart just isn't working as well as it would be if he were truly healthy.

Sheesh, his family has him around and if he feels good enough to be happy and return their love then I count them all very fortunate and I am sure they'll treasure their time with him.

I'm still waiting for my personal hovercraft...
Yeah! Dang it all!

[JAnn]

For years I was considered "lazy", then at the age of forty we discovered that it was due to allergies and food intolerances. What I would have given to do all the things normal teenagers did, but I was too "lazy" or tired. When we finally addressed the problem I drove my family crazy with my energy. Now I question the reason why when someone is called "lazy".

[potatofree]

Or maybe he was making a little attempt at self-depricating humor about the fact he's not in training for the Iron Man or something like you might expect to see in all the "miracle cure" articles? :rolleyes:

[MyJourney]

This article http://rense.com/general67/mice.htm came out last year. There was another one about something similar with sheep in Australia but I will have to keep looking for it. I didnt expect things like this until we have molecular assembly with nanotechnology.

Scientists have created "miracle mice" that can regenerate amputated limbs or damaged vital organs, making them able to recover from injuries that would kill or permanently disable normal animals.

The experimental animals are unique among mammals in their ability to regrow their heart, toes, joints and tail.

And when cells from the test mouse are injected into ordinary mice, they too acquire the ability to regenerate, the US-based researchers say.

Their discoveries raise the prospect that humans could one day be given the ability to regenerate lost or damaged organs, opening up a new era in medicine.

Details of the research will be presented next week at a scientific conference on ageing titled Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence, at Cambridge University in Britain.

The research leader, Ellen Heber-Katz, professor of immunology at the Wistar Institute, a US biomedical research centre, said the ability of the mice at her laboratory to regenerate organs appeared to be controlled by about a dozen genes.

Professor Heber-Katz says she is still researching the genes' exact functions, but it seems almost certain humans have comparable genes.

"We have experimented with amputating or damaging several different organs, such as the heart, toes, tail and ears, and just watched them regrow," she said.

"It is quite remarkable. The only organ that did not grow back was the brain.

"When we injected fetal liver cells taken from those animals into ordinary mice, they too gained the power of regeneration. We found this persisted even six months after the injection."

Professor Heber-Katz made her discovery when she noticed the identification holes that scientists punch in the ears of experimental mice healed without any signs of scarring in the animals at her laboratory.

The self-healing mice, from a strain known as MRL, were then subjected to a series of surgical procedures. In one case the mice had their toes amputated -- but the digits grew back, complete with joints.

In another test some of the tail was cut off, and this also regenerated. Then the researchers used a cryoprobe to freeze parts of the animals' hearts, and watched them grow back again. A similar phenomenon was observed when the optic nerve was severed and the liver partially destroyed.

The researchers believe the same genes could confer greater longevity and are measuring their animals' survival rate. However, the mice are only 18 months old, and the normal lifespan is two years so it is too early to reach firm conclusions.

Scientists have long known that less complex creatures have an impressive ability to regenerate. Many fish and amphibians can regrow internal organs or even whole limbs.

[ImOnMyWay]

I find it amazing that the mice were able to regrow body parts. I am horrified by the inherent cruelty in vivisection. These practices are disgusting.

While I appreciate the discoveries made by scientists who brutally maltreat animals, I would appreciate them much more if they had made those discoveries without mistreating animals. The old cliche, "if you want to make an omelette, you gotta break some eggs" just doesn't wash here. And no, I'm not a vegetarian. I do not consider eating meat to be mistreatment of animals. Humans are on top of the food chain. We must eat to survive. We do not need to vivisect to survive. Scientific discoveries can be made without resorting to torturing animals.

To the person who posted this article, please do not consider this an attack on you or your ideas. I just hate vivisection.


This article http://rense.com/general67/mice.htm came out last year.

[snip]

The self-healing mice, from a strain known as MRL, were then subjected to a series of surgical procedures. In one case the mice had their toes amputated -- but the digits grew back, complete with joints.

In another test some of the tail was cut off, and this also regenerated. Then the researchers used a cryoprobe to freeze parts of the animals' hearts, and watched them grow back again. A similar phenomenon was observed when the optic nerve was severed and the liver partially destroyed.

[Equinox]

I didn't mean to infer that the man was morally inferior, or even, that I myself think he is lazy. That was his word, actually. All I'm saying is he made it sound like he had gotten a "quick" fix, and that he didn't seem to regard exercise as neccesary. This is what I read into what he said, my personal interpretation. That "lazyness" line made me feel bad. For him and by extension, for a lot of people. Had he said something different, I would not have felt that way. Sorry if I've offended anyone, that was not at all my intention!

[Nancy LC]

Yeah, I know you didn't mean to offend. And I wasn't offended. I just wanted to point out that laziness isn't necessarily a moral shortcoming.

[kwikdriver]

While not related to nutrition, thought this (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12969307/) was an excellent article on things that are happening in science. I'll say it again: in 100 years we won't recognize the world we've made.

In a step toward linking a person's thoughts to machines, Japanese automaker Honda said it has developed a technology that uses brain signals to control a robot's very simple moves.

In the future, the technology that Honda Motor Co. developed with ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories could be used to replace keyboards or cell phones, researchers said Wednesday. It also could have applications in helping people with spinal cord injuries, they said.

In a video demonstration in Tokyo, brain signals detected by a magnetic resonance imaging scanner were relayed to a robotic hand. A person in the MRI machine made a fist, spread his fingers and then made a V-sign. Several seconds later, a robotic hand mimicked the movements.

Further research would be needed to decode more complex movements.

The machine for reading the brain patterns also would have to become smaller and lighter — like a cap that people can wear as they move about, said ATR researcher Yukiyasu Kamitani.

What Honda calls a "brain-machine interface" is an improvement over past approaches, such as those that required surgery to connect wires. Other methods still had to train people in ways to send brain signals or weren't very accurate in reading the signals, Kamitani said.

Honda officials said the latest research was important not only for developing intelligence for the company's walking bubble-headed robot, Asimo, but also for future auto technology.

"There is a lot of potential for application to autos such as safety measures," said Tomohiko Kawanabe, president of Honda Research Institute Japan Co.

Asimo, about 50 inches tall, can talk, walk and dance. It's available only for rental but is important for Honda's image and has appeared at events and TV ads.

At least another five years are probably needed before Asimo starts moving according to its owner's mental orders, according to Honda.

Right now, Asimo's metallic hand can't even make a V-sign.