Mario Gunter
Gen. Biology
4-10-01
Summary
At the beginning of the article, it mainly talked about a women who had a
stroke and was paralyzed on the entire left side of your body. No one ever expected her
to ever walk again. Two years later she not only walks but runs for short distances. Her
only lingering impairment is a paralyzed hand. It's hard to say exactly what happen for
the near full recovery, but a year ago this women this women had two holes drilled
into her head, and injected fetal- pigs cells (about 80 million of them- into her brain).
By doing this the cells have taken root and formed connections with her own surviving
neurons, reversing much of the damage caused by the stroke.
The idea of putting pig parts in people is not a new idea. Doctors have long
used porcine heart valves and hormones in people. But the advent of fetal-cell research,
the practice has reached a whole new level. Today, researches are testing fetal pigs cells
as a treatment for a range of brain conditions. These brain conditions also include
Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, epilepsy, and even chronic pain. Only a few
dozen patients have received brain cells from fetal pigs. And also during the few past
weeks, scientists have reported disappointing results with both approaches.
This year 53,000 of the year 75,000 Americans who might benefit from a
transplant will die waiting for a donor. Transplantable pig organs could generate
billions for biotech while extending thousands of lives.
In conclusion I feel that using pig parts to extend a persons life isn't as
bad as some people think. But I think that some people die while waiting for transplants
when others experiment with these pig cells. Only time will tell weather or not this is a
good idea to have this operation or not. But one way I feel that you can save more lives
for less...