Cow-human cross embryo lives three days - expected to provide limitless supply of stem cells!

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Hurrah!

:no:

Wow - right down to the lopsided "I don't know what the #### I'm doing" smile.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Will this mean that there could be mad human disease someday? Human burgers? Human... you get the picture.

Well there already is. There's some evidence that prion diseases like BSE can jump the species barrier - hence the bother in the UK a few years back. Prion diseases are ###### creepy - and there is yet no cure or therapy for any of them. There was a TV show back during the UK beef crisis where they showed how the disease couldn't be destroyed even by (over)cooking the meat. In one experiment they showed they took a steak and burned it black and the prion agents were still there.

[Nagishkaw 510]

Hurrah!

:rofl:

[HAL 9000 96]

Will this mean that there could be mad human disease someday? Human burgers? Human... you get the picture.

Well there already is. There's some evidence that prion diseases like BSE can jump the species barrier - hence the bother in the UK a few years back. Prion diseases are ###### creepy - and there is yet no cure or therapy for any of them. There was a TV show back during the UK beef crisis where they showed how the disease couldn't be destroyed even by (over)cooking the meat. In one experiment they showed they took a steak and burned it black and the prion agents were still there.

Yes, I do remember the evidence from Papua New Guinea and the cannibalism that led to some very interesting prion studies.

Prions are the way they are because mechanistically they're like autoXeroxes... They find proteins of any size, unfold them and then template them to their own likeness. How a freaking protein with no apparent active site can do this is the scary part... even though structurally they do some wild things.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Dude.... that cow-guy looks like GWB.... EEEEWWWWW

[SaadBell 0]

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I don't get it.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Will this mean that there could be mad human disease someday? Human burgers? Human... you get the picture.

Well there already is. There's some evidence that prion diseases like BSE can jump the species barrier - hence the bother in the UK a few years back. Prion diseases are ###### creepy - and there is yet no cure or therapy for any of them. There was a TV show back during the UK beef crisis where they showed how the disease couldn't be destroyed even by (over)cooking the meat. In one experiment they showed they took a steak and burned it black and the prion agents were still there.

Yes, I do remember the evidence from Papua New Guinea and the cannibalism that led to some very interesting prion studies.

Prions are the way they are because mechanistically they're like autoXeroxes... They find proteins of any size, unfold them and then template them to their own likeness. How a freaking protein with no apparent active site can do this is the scary part... even though structurally they do some wild things.

There was a recent book that came out end of last year I think - we bought it for work. About an Italian family who suffered some sort of genetic defect linked to prions - with the result that when it kicked in they lost the ability to sleep. As a result their metabolisms went haywire, their brains shut down and they all died of exhaustion.