>>A Blog About the Science and Technology of Living Forever

They say bacon is not good for the heart. In Heidelberg, Germany, that is changing. Our porky little friends are being used to produce scaffolds for refreshed hearts infused with human stem cells. This results in transplantable hearts for those that can’t wait for donor human hearts. The first step in the process of creating a pig heart for transplant into a human from to strip the pig’s heart of pig heart cells. Then the resulting scaffold is refreshed with stem cells from a human. The result: a pig heart transformed with human cells. What does this mean for humans? Well, in terms of heart transplants we will have the ability to treat everyone who needs one.  Right now there is a shortage of human heart donors.  There are thousands of people waiting to receive a transplanted healthy heart from an unfortunate accident victim. The new pig-powered procedure is experimental. And it may be decades before it can be performed to help humans. Controversy around stem cells is not helping matters. Still, these advancements may one day lead to the replacement of organs such as, lungs, livers and kidneys. Learn more in this video: A New Heart Grown from Stem Cells...

Thanks to startling new research on immune cells in salamanders, medical science may be able to help humans one day regrow their limbs and regenerate their organs.

Researchers have succeeded in building a functioning kidney built from newborn rat cells.
And it’s being called is a major step towards personalized transplant organs for humans.

Scientists at Tufts University have found a way to cause tadpoles to grow eyes outside of the head area, suggesting organs can be made to grow by changing impulses in bioelectric current in cells.

The following is a short excerpt from David Brin’s brilliant essay, “Do We Really Want Immortality?” A number of eminent writers like Robert Heinlein, Greg Bear, Kim Stanley Robinson and Gregory Benford have speculated on possible consequences, should Mister G. Reaper ever be forced to hang up his scythe and seek other employment. For example, if the Death Barrier comes crashing down, will we be able to keep shoehorning new humans into a world already crowded with earlier generations? Or else, as envisioned by author John Varley, might such a breakthrough demand draconian population-control measures, limiting each person to one direct heir per lifespan? What if overcoming death proves expensive? Shall we return to the ancient belief, common in some cultures, that immortality is reserved for the rich and mighty? Nancy Kress has written books that vividly foresee a time when the teeming poor resent rich immortals. In contrast, author Joe Haldeman suggested simple rules of social engineering that may help keep such a prize within reach by all. More people could wind up dying by violence and accidents than old age. Might we then start to hunker down in our homes, preserving our long-but-frail lives by avoiding all risk? Or would ennui drive the long-lived to seek new thrills, like extreme sports, bringing death back out of retirement in order to add spice to an otherwise-dull eternity? To read Brin’s essay, click here. David Brin, a scientist and best-selling author whose future-oriented novels include Earth, The Postman, and Hugo Award winners Startide Rising and The Uplift War, is a 2010 Fellow of the IEET. Brin is known as a leading commentator on modern technological, social, and political trends. His nonfiction book The Transparent Society won the Freedom of Speech Award from the American Library Association. Brin’s most recent novel, Kiln People, explores...