Another advance in iPS research!

Researchers working on induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS) have announced another breakthrough today. Earlier results showed that organs grown from retrovirally produced iPS cells in mice grew cancer very soon after. This most recent methodology "added cell-reprogramming genes to adenoviruses, a type of virus that infects cells without affecting their DNA." The adenoviruses, after producing cell-reprogramming proteins, turning the cells embryonic, departed. The goal was to produce genetically unmodified iPS cells.

Link to paper abstract here.

Happiness is...

... a warm electrode, according to modern science :)

The subject has been ill with depression for more than ten years, and did not respond to typical treatment such as drugs and ECT (electroconvulsive therapy). This DBS (Deep Brain Surgery) treatment implanted electrodes that deliver a small, regular jolt of electrical current to an area of the brain 'believed to be a key regulator of mood'. While similar treatment has been done on patients with Parkinson's disease by normalizing the 'activity in the basal ganglia and thalmus—which dictate motor control—thus reducing trembling limbs', this operation is believed to be the first to 'tackle depression'.

The article did briefly mention the ethical concern of allowing this treatment to be performed without much understanding of why the electrical pulses seem to be correlated to mood uplifting, and putting in a mechanical implant that may have to last many decades. The argument given in favor of this treatment is the seeming epidemic of depression; and how time is the enemy of depression patients, having caused many fatalities through suicide (11th leading cause of death in the US, this article says). Notably missing however, is a discussion on the implication of having this implant in a patient's head—both from the risk aspect of mechanical failure or poisoning or contamination, and unforeseen psychiatric & physiological side-effect, since this treatment only picked up in the 1990's, giving only a very brief period to study the safety and the efficacy of such medical treatment.

Also troubling in my opinion, is how happiness (albeit the author meant it with his tongue-in-cheek) has been reduced to a formula delivered through a set of physical treatment. It may not be too long before it is made available to anyone who feels the need of an extra dose of happiness. Lunchtime pick-me-up session anyone?

"Catholic" Ethics Part 2

To follow up from my earlier intention to study this topic, here's a filler post about The Acton Institute whose mission is "to promote a free, virtuous, and humane society" and whose direction "recognizes the benefits of a limited government, but also the beneficent consequences of a free market."

While I don't know much about Rev. Robert A Sirico, a Catholic priest, or anyone on board this organization, to form an opinion about the institute's conformity with the teachings of the Church, it provides an interesting starting point (yet again) for anyone learning about ethics & Christian views on it:
- Support for entrepreneurs
- Support of right to private property
- Markets & morality of capitalism

Reading an interview (PDF) of Fr Sirico from the year 2000, it seems like he was a passionate youth on the Economic Left in the 70's before delving into the likes of Hayek and Friedman, which helped to disabuse him from the notion that "some have because others don't".

"I support liberty; I oppose libertinism. The most freeing experiences of my life have been when I surrendered myself to legitimate authority
...
Liberty is logically ordered to the truth; that is, it is ordered to something beyond itself. [Lord] Acton's twin concerns in his writing of history was the importance of human liberty, but the equal importance of religion as the regulator of liberty.

Economic truth is truth, but it is not the whole truth. The talent for business comes from something that transcends economics; it comes from a culture that respects the human person."

I will read and review some of his articles and post them here in the coming few months. Meanwhile, any comments/insights/links to resources are always welcome.