Headline: “Lab-grown organs ‘go rogue’ and develop BRAIN and MUSCLE
cells”
Miniature kidneys, created and
grown in laboratory test tubes, suddenly
started forming brain and muscle cells recently. The kidney “organoids”
began behaving in a completely unexpected way, the Daily Star reported, as scientists expected them to form different
kinds of kidney cells. (That seems
like a reasonable assumption, I must admit). “Experts” believe that the study’s
findings imply that the method used by researchers is actually creating other
types of cells. That is a pretty good assumption, since that is exactly what
occurred. Thanks, experts!
Benjamin Humphreys, the director of
the Division of Nephrology at the Washington University School of Medicine in
St. Louis, said scientists haven’t really learned that organoid cells may not
mirror the behavior of human cells and therefore may produce different results.
Thanks, Dr. Humphreys, for that cogent analysis of what obviously transpired if
the reports are accurate. He stated that he believes somewhere between 10 and
20 per cent of the cells in the experiment missed their cue to develop into
kidney cells but added that slight tweaks should make it possible to block the
rogue cells from sprouting.
Missed their cue?! We’re not
talking about an actress who was late to her lines. What we need to learn is
that we shouldn’t be playing God and attempting to create life from scratch by
playing around with genetic material, Bunsen burners and test tubes. We should
no longer be surprised if one day we walk into the lab to find out that what we
thought would be a nice little Chia Pet of a kidney grew a brain, sprouted arms
like Popeye, smashed the laboratory’s window, and sidled off to Chick-fil-a for
a bite to eat.
“Something wrong, Dr.
Frankenstein?”
“No! There’s nothing to see here!”
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