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THE DE-EXTINCTION of ancient species, including human ancestors is a lively debate today and is unlikely to go away. Like it or not, this subject will inexorably unfold as new scientific progress develops. King Canute (985 AD) famously failed to command the East Anglian tide from rising: we can imitate Canute, or adopt a realistic viewpoint. View in LinkedIn

CONSERVATIVES CALL SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY "an extreme form of genetic engineering," (and the) "ETC Group and Friends of the Earth, wants to ban the use of synthetic biology ... Until these regulations are in place, the group wants a moratorium on the release and commercial use of synthetic organisms and their products." http://lnkd.in/d_Pd4mp View in LinkedIn

UCBT SIMILAR TO BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTS. "A cord blood transplant is similar to a bone marrow transplant. However, the blood stem cells are derived from the umbilical cord blood of a newborn rather than from an adult donor. One of the advantages of umbilical cord blood is that matching between donor and recipient does not need to be as exact." http://lnkd.in/drVk_kU View in LinkedIn

MANY EXAMPLES OF REINTRODUCTION OF SPECIES. "The return of wolves to Yellowstone National Park after an absence of 70 years is regarded as one of the great recent conservation coups. Black-footed ferrets ... Beavers ... wolves." Stewart Brand ... on the case for de-extinction. http://e360.yale.edu/feature/the_case_for_de-extinction_why_we_should_bring_back_the_woolly_mammoth/2721/ View in LinkedIn

1 MILLION TRANSPLANTS BY 2012. "A total of 1 million stem cell transplants (bone marrow, peripheral blood or umbilical cord blood) have been performed worldwide*. Today, more than 70 malignant and non-malignant diseases are typically treated with a stem cell transplant. This intervention, which is perfected day by day," https://www.fcarreras.org/en/a-total-of-1-million-stem-cell-transplants-have-been-performed-worldwide_147898 View in LinkedIn

SYNBIO AND CONSERVATION. "Conservation workers will this week seek help from an unlikely set of allies. They will ask researchers working on synthetic biology – the science of creating advanced manipulated organisms – to help them save the world's endangered creatures and habitats." http://lnkd.in/dQPXv7v View in LinkedIn

25 YEARS OF UMBILICAL CHORD BLOOD TRANSPLANTS (UCBT). "2013, marks the 25th anniversary of the first UCBT, performed by Gluckman ... in France in 1988 for a child with Fanconi anemia. More than 600 ,000 UCB units have been donated for public use worldwide, and more than 30 ,000 UCBTs have been performed." http://lnkd.in/dca-scH View in LinkedIn

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE HAS NEVER been in so controversial a place before: the ability to make entirely novel creatures, bring back extinct species, and clone humans. Technology convergence of stem cells, SYNBIO, DNA sequencing give unparalleled tools. The inability to reach international consensus regulations on biological warfare simply means that our ability to put the jenie back in the bottle is unrealistic. View in LinkedIn

CORD BLOOD TRANSPLANTS. "A cord blood transplant is a hematopoietic stem cell transplant that uses cord blood instead of bone marrow or peripheral blood as the source of blood-producing stem cells for the transplant. The transplant restores a patient’s ability to produce healthy blood cells, some of which are essential to the immune system’s ability to fight infections." http://www.fhcrc.org/en/treatment/treatment-research/cord-blood-transplantation.html View in LinkedIn

CRAZY FRINGE. "A cloning company operated by a religious group based in Las Vegas faces a lawsuit. A locally based religious group called Raelians operates Clonaid, the company claiming to have cloned the first human. Cloning is of particular importance to Raelians, who believe humans are clones of an advanced race of aliens." http://lnkd.in/dqQesSK View in LinkedIn