Snapping out of the Pro-Death Trance
From TechNewsWorld: "In America, a large part of funding for regenerative medicine comes from the Department of Defense, whose goal is to repair soldiers who come home wounded. That is an effort everyone recognizes as important. Yet, when it comes to repairing older people whose hearts and lungs are failing, society seems at peace accepting their demise because that is all humanity has ever known - a state of mind that some call the 'pro-death trance.' ... A Swedish hospital recently announced that a cancer patient was saved after doctors grew him a new windpipe in the lab using a synthetic structure and the man's own stem cells. That might have sounded like science fiction just a few years ago, but today it is landmark news. Regenerative medicine has the ability to usher in radically longer and healthier lives, yet few are considering the implications. The ability to grow new replacement parts for humans when original organs break down is a game-changer when it comes to extending human 'health spans' - the amount of time one is alive and healthy. A handful of human subjects have already benefited from innovations in this area and dozens of organs have been successfully grown in the lab, including a rat heart. ... The coming changes will be enormous - but on the whole, positive. Why then, is there no sustained dialog about how to get to that point sooner? ... Humans now have the opportunity to live much longer and healthier lives - for the greater benefit of all. It is time to break free from the pro-death trance and work toward speeding the revolution."
Link: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/America-Its-Time-to-Snap-Out-of-the-Pro-Death-Trance-72907.html