DARPA Plans to Regrow Human Body Parts

[seemslikeadream]

http://www.itwire.com/content/view/24029/53/

U.S. Defense Department promoting tissue regeneration
by Jake Widman
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
!The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) has awarded a contract to a Massachusetts biotech company to research tissue restoration.


The recipient of the award is CellThera, a part of the Bioengineering Institute at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The US$570,000 contract is for one year with a second-year option.

This isn't DARPA or CellThera's first venture into tissue regeneration. In 2006, CellThera managed to reprogram skin cells from mice and humans to behave like stem cells. Under the current contract, the scientists will try to reprogram cells to grow new, functional skeletal muscle.

In a statement, professor Eric. W. Overstrom of Worcester Polytechnic's Department of Biology and Biotechnology, said, "This new award not only validates the important work CellThera and WPI are doing in the area of regenerative medicine, but...this work will help push the science closer to the clinic and closer to helping people recover from devastating injuries."

[bettyellen]

1. this sounds like a Vincent Price movie to me. .. I can picture the hand crawling towards me...

[KakistocracyHater]

6. !!!I ADORE Vincent Price!!!

That said Darpa doesn't have the head for this; same as that 'private corps', you have scientists who have discarded so-called junk dna in mice, but those mice grow terribly & horrendously deformed. I wonder if they have begun to test medicines on female animals, since too many in science have unrealistically considered the female "unusual", due to that pesky clockwork thingy called roughly the menstrual cycle.

[Sal316]

2. DARPA dreams alot of things....

...that's their whole purpose for existence.

[MADem]

4. A lot of their dreams have come true, too.

DARPA/ARPA were the guys that started up these here internets (ARPANET), after all. They got Predator drones off the ground.

They're fearless. They're smart. They aren't afraid to fail.

I like that.

[crikkett]

5. LOL

:rofl:

They're still here because of the girl they hired to write their press releases.

[seemslikeadream]

7. ...

[CoffeeCat]

8. I've actually written a couple of press releases...

...about DARPA's work.

It's just kinda funny seeing you ROTFL about it...

;)

[crikkett]

9. You know what

I misread the comment I thought was so funny. I needed a laugh yesterday so I guess I just dreamt one up...

DARPA does dream up some absurd stuff. I wish it weren't all geared for war.

[aikoaiko]

3. about freakin time. nt

[SidDithers]

10. Good...

seems like a much better contribution to humanity than more weapons tech.

Sid