Oh My CNN!

Today is a good day for my relationship with CNN. I watched the last ever shuttle launch live AND found an interesting/controversial article to share with you.

First the shuttle launch. I almost soiled myself just watching it. So intense! There is no way you will ever ever ever find Mrs. Lipsey venturing off into space. I'm quite comfy with my feet on the ground...not even a huge fan of planes. Due to a lack of speakers on my work computer I was forced to watch the whole debacle silently, which I assume took something away from its overall intensity. Still, watching everything start to shake, smoke, and eventually blast off made my heart rate accelerate a little bit. And seeing earth in the background as the shuttle went further into space made me quite a nervous wreck too. Best of luck to the astronauts on board!

In other news via CNN, I found an article about the first lab-made organ to be successfully transplanted into a human! Read the article here. I'm totally in awe and completely amazed. If you hate reading (which you shouldn't, especially if you read my posts which are typically too long), the basic point of the article is that a trachea was constructed in a lab using polymers and stem cells, then transplanted into a man's body. SUCCESSFULLY. The patient in the article had late-stage tracheal cancer & had exhausted all other treatment options, so rather than waiting for a transplant they just made him a new one! Make sure you check out the pictures.

Some are finding this controversial due to the use of stem cells which could potentially "lead to human cloning," but I don't see how helping someone combat a fatal disease would leave you worrying about cloning. Mainly because all I can think is HOLY COW THEY MADE AN ORGAN AND SAVED A LIFE!! Seriously! And I'd be lying if I didn't admit to the thought "OMG its just like Grey's Anatomy!" I do see where the controversy is coming from though.

If you didn't gather it from the above, I'm all for constructing organs using stem cells to save a life. I'm not concerned with human cloning (maybe its lack of intellect, but that still sounds a little bizarre and distant to me), and I'm pretty sure if it were my life on the line, or the life of one my family members, I'd be all about stem-celling some polymer organs. God gave us the intelligence and tools to construct these organs, He did create all of those stem cells after all, so I hope no one argues this from a "God-complex" or "playing God" perspective. How is it any different than using other resources He has given us to save lives?

Though you might disagree with my grow-your-own-organ excitement, I want to know what you think. Is this a good idea? Would you do it? Do you think we might've taken things too far by attempting to create our own organs?

Ooooh controversy. I do see why the issue is so complex and controversial, and maybe I should've put more thought into it before throwing my opinion out there over the internet, but it is what it is.

XOXO,
Hannah