Stem Cells, Mao, and Breast Implants

The debate over stem cell research is now concluded. The left has won. There is no way religious conservatives can win against this stuff....

The New Zealand Herald reports:

by Sophie Goodchild

A revolutionary technique using stem-cell research could soon allow women to choose breast enhancements made of living tissue instead of silicone. Scientists who have been able to grow human fat cells in the laboratory for the first time say the breakthrough means that patients could, in effect, grow their own implants....

The living tissue implants would not "wear out". And because they are derived from the patient's own stem cells, there would not be a problem of tissue rejection that can arise with tissue from a donor. "The technique is also applicable for other soft tissue, including facial tissue such as the lips." he said.

Of course there are potential problems. The article points out:

There are, however, a number of issues yet to be resolved. One is the question of how the mass of living cells can develop a blood supply to keep it alive once it is implanted. Another is how to stop the cells from continuing to replicate once the operation is complete.

Hmmmm... gotta think about that one.

Should we be concerned that the scientist spearheading this effort is "Doctor Mao"?

And there is this fascinating/horrifying historical account:

Materials such as ivory and sponge were inserted to enhance shape and size in the 19th century, and by the 1940s breasts were being directly injected with paraffin and silicone derivatives. Silicone gel implants were introduced in the early 1960s. Health fears circulated after a US study found that up to 70 per cent of silicone implants ruptured. In 1998 in the UK, a Government review found no evidence that silicone presented any greater risk than other implants. Many women switched to versions using soya oil, discontinued in the UK in 1999 over leak worries, and saline.

Ivory and sponges, directly injecting paraffin and silicone, ruptures, leaks. Women have put up with all this in the quest for big or shapely breasts! See what I mean about the debate over stem cells having entered its final stage? The issue has been decided!

Read it all here.