So I'm not exactly sure what the movie is about yet, but we did see a scene where a human adult was born out of a giant artificial uterus bag thing. At let me tell you, it's nothing like actual birth. Believe me, my mom is a gynecologist. I know.
And there's something fruity going on with ScarJo and male protagonist, which is hilarious because the place where they live has this "proximity rule" thing where you cannot touch anyone, at all. Not even like a handshake or a high five. It's like middle school all over again.
So yeah, we're watching The Island in class as a transition to forensics (I think).
Tonight's homework was to read an article on stem cells and this thing called iPSC (induced pluripotent stem cells). A mouthful right? That's why they call it iPSC. Although, the abbreviations make it sound like an Apple product.
The iPSC is basically a stem cell which hasn't begun differentiation. That's when the stem cell becomes more specialized in one particular part of the body, like skin cells, or blood cells. Scientists want to use the iPSC to find cures for diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Scientists are still testing the iPSC but they hope to be able to use it for treatment as soon as they know exactly what the cells are capable of.
Until next time.
What do you think about iPSCs? Do you think they show promise for the future of medicine, or do you think they raise too many ethical questions (like making full clones of people, ew)?
ReplyDeleteI think it could go either way depending on who is working on the technology and what their definition of 'living' and whether or not their product. I could definitely see a huge debate on clone rights if we ever get our technology to the level of creating full human clones. But yes, I think iPSCs show huge promise for the future of medicine if handled properly. Otherwise it'll just be like those sic-fi movies where in the end half of LA gets blown up and the LAPD actually decides to do their job.
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