Phenotypic frontin’ – What’s wrong with cosmetic therapies?
Men, the future is here. This article describes a procedure developed and tested on rabbits to grow and reattach prosthetic penises from the individuals own tissue. Once done the body accepts it and it becomes fully functional. While ethical issues will likely prevent men from partaking in this procedure voluntarily for cosmetic reasons, doubtless if the technology is successfully developed in humans a black market will arise overseas. Soon you too men can have the dick of a porn-star.
WASHINGTON – Researchers have engineered artificial penises in rabbits, using cells from the animals, who then used their new organs to father baby rabbits.
The work takes scientists closer to making other complex solid organs such as livers using a patient’s own cells, the researchers reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday.
It provides a tailor-made transplant, said Dr. Anthony Atala of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center’s Institute for Regenerative Medicine, who led the study.
“Once the tissue is there, the body recognizes the tissue as its own,” Atala said in a telephone interview.
Atala focused on the penis because he is a pediatric urologist, who has specialized for years in disorders and congenital defects of the bladder and sexual organs.
“That was the inspiration for this work. We are seeing babies born with deficient genitalia all the time. There are no good options,” Atala said.
He is also a specialist in regenerative medicine, which uses the body’s own cells to repair damage. In this case, Atala’s team used ordinary cells, not the stem cells often used in such research.
Companies such as Geron and privately held Advanced Cell Technology have business models based on such technology.
Atala’s team first created a scaffold using the penis of a rabbit, and removed all the living cells from it, leaving only cartilage. They then took a small piece of tissue from the penis of another rabbit and grew the cells in a lab dish.
Atala said the work has taken his team 18 years to complete. “We had to find the right growth factors, the right soup to grow the cells in,” he said.
They made sure to have two cell types, smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells, the same type of cells that line blood vessels. The smooth muscle cells made the organ’s spongy tissue and the endothelial cells grew into blood vessels — very important in an organ like the penis, which requires good blood supply.
The cells were seeded onto the scaffold, and six weeks later the researchers had penises to graft onto rabbits that had their penises removed.
The animals seemed to realize they had working organs again — the 12 with the grafts tried to mate with female rabbits within one minute of being put into cages with them, and four of the female rabbits became pregnant.
Those with the scaffolding alone and no working tissue did not even try.
Atala is hoping the procedure will work with people, perhaps starting with adult men who have had damage to their organs.
“Patients with congenital anomalies, penile cancer, traumatic penile injury, and some types of organic erectile dysfunction could benefit from this technology in the future,” the team wrote in the report.
The process takes six weeks from beginning to end, he said, and there is reason to believe a penis grafted onto a baby would grow with the child.
Atala hopes the approach will work with other organs. “We have made clitoral tissue in the past,” he said. “We have extensive work going on with kidneys and livers.”
Atala’s team started their experiments with replacement bladders grown from patients’ cells. Patients fitted with artificial bladders have been enjoying good function for 10 years now, Atala said.
Copyright 2009 Reuters. Click for restrictions.URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33808214/ns/technology_and_science-science/
While this finding was being discussed on the radio this morning a female caller posed the risible question of whether any men would voluntarily undergo this procedure merely in the name of obtaining a big swinging dick. Uh, duh? Doubtless there are men out there who would take this to ridiculous extremes, much as certain women have with breast implants. There is only one thing left to say on this topic. Open wide ladies, and say ahhh-ugh! Better work on that gag reflex…
Add to this the new research in building muscle mass, another technology ripe for the black market, and you have the potential for a whole new type of false superman:
By Rob Waters
Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) — Monkeys that had a gene injected into their legs developed bigger, stronger thighs in an experiment that may pave the way for human trials testing the therapy in people with muscle-wasting diseases.
Several diseases including muscular dystrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, cause muscle weakness and have no effective treatments, said Jerry Mendell, director of the gene therapy center at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and an author of the study published today in Science Translational Medicine.
The therapy works by blocking a protein, myostatin, that degrades muscle. Reversing muscle loss in the thigh may help patients who struggle to stand or walk, said R. Rodney Howell, chairman of the board of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, a nonprofit group based in Tucson, Arizona. The results may also interest a group of people who aren’t the intended beneficiaries — athletes who want to improve performance, Howell said.
“We’re always looking for new treatments and at this time we don’t have any specific cures for the muscular dystrophies so an observation like this that might well benefit a lot of people is very exciting,” Howell said today in a telephone interview.
Amgen Inc., based in Thousand Oaks, California, and closely held Acceleron Pharma Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts, are experimenting with spurring muscle growth by suppressing myostatin. The idea is to reverse atrophy caused by wasting illnesses and aging. It may also create a hard-to-detect, non- steroid shortcut for increasing the size of healthy tissues.
Threat to Sports
“This threat is one of several that sports has to consider and be prepared for,” said Travis Tygart, chief executive officer for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, a nonprofit organization based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, charged with preventing the use of performance-enhancing drugs in Olympic sports.
Use of myostatin-blocking therapies by athletes has been banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency even though they aren’t yet available, Tygart said in a telephone interview today.
Mendell said the results in monkeys provide evidence that U.S. regulators will need to allow human trials, which he and his colleagues hope to begin about the middle of next year. They plan to study the therapy first in people with inclusion body myositis, a rare condition that weakens the muscles of adults older than age 50, Mendell said.
“We wanted to improve strength in one muscle group in a way that would benefit patients and that’s the thigh muscle,” Mendell said yesterday in a telephone interview. “The muscle weakens, patients are prone to fall frequently and they may lose the ability to ambulate.”
Stronger Legs
The researchers tried to use one protein called follistatin to impede the action of another, myostatin, that’s known to inhibit muscle growth. They injected the gene for follistatin into the right legs of six healthy monkeys and after eight weeks, their right legs had grown and were larger than their left legs.
“We created a stronger muscle,” said Brian Kaspar, the principal investigator for Nationwide’s research institute. “We also showed that the muscle generated more force.”
To deliver the gene, the researchers loaded it onto a so- called adeno-associated virus and injected it into the monkeys. This type of virus is designed to be harmless and is commonly used as a delivery vehicle in gene therapy procedures. The Ohio researchers followed the monkeys for 15 months after the treatment and found no evidence of any unwanted side effects.
Building Strength
The treatment may help build strength in patients whose muscles are wasting because of cancer or AIDS, Mendell said. Athletes also may seek this kind of approach for increased muscle mass to enhance their performance, he said.
“It could do the same thing it did in the monkeys and help increase their strength,” Mendell said.
If a gene therapy were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and entered the market, it would be highly regulated and not easily available, Mendell said.
“I think it’s a lot less of a threat than easily obtained designer steroids,” said Tygart of the Anti-Doping Agency. “I’m more concerned about designer steroids that I can get off the Internet.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Rob Waters in San Francisco at rwaters5@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: November 11, 2009 17:46 EST
These technologies, like breast implants and plastic surgery for women, bring men’s ability to falsely represent a superior genome up to par with women’s. All joking aside though, I’m not generally in favor of these technologies for cosmetic purposes. Beauty and attractiveness have evolved as a proxy for genetic quality. This natural signaling has evolved to allow us to accurately judge a prospective mate’s reproductive capital. Plastic surgery derails this process and falsely inflates the perceived genetic quality of the individual undergoing it (presuming it’s done flawlessly) and as such is the enemy of natural assortative mating. The Alpha male should reject such technologies as the desperate and insecure pandering of the genetically bereft in their sad attempts to increase their standing. This does nothing for one’s potential offspring and if you are successfully deceived you are doing your heirs a disservice in undeservedly promoting a lower caliber of mate to the ranks of highly desirable.
In light of this news, this link seems appropriate…
How exactly is a disservice to your heirs to get them out of reach FEMALE genes?
With the first part, I’d be much more curious on how real it really is whereas gene therapy for muscle building just freaks me out.
But bring on the artificial organs. Pushing it further, one day we might be able to replace half our bodies at a time. Which may go a big step towards immortality
It’s a disservice to one’s heirs to say take a wife who’s attractive only as a result of extensive plastic surgery. The Alpha male and beautiful woman will typically already have superior genomes. We must ensure we pair with partners with authentic and natural reproductive capital vs. that which is faked. You are right though, for the individuals who through external intervention successfully deceive a higher quality partner than they would otherwise get into copulating with them, it’s a come up. Bear in mind though that women are far less interested in male attractiveness in a physical sense than they are in social dominance, wealth and power, thus far things that cannot be surgically enhanced.
The Alpha male should reject such technologies as the desperate and insecure pandering of the genetically bereft in their sad attempts to increase their standing.
How is this any different then “game”?
I mean men read these kinds of blogs in order to gain a relative advantage in the mating game. These men may not have been blessed with the genetic predisposition to behave in an alpha manner, so they opt to learn how to do so.
So the real question becomes, where do we draw the line?
I can alter my physique by adopting a good diet and training program. But as soon as I start messing with the physical makeup of my genes it’s a big no no?
I don’t think there are any easy answers here.
I’ve got new for you fellas.A porn star sized dick is way the fuck over rated.
Most guys just have to make a girl want to have sex with him. I have to make girls want to sex me and then find the ones that can take my dick.
1) Marathon sex sessions? only with turbo skanks.
2) Toothless blow jobs? fucking forget it.
3) Anal? see number 1
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining.
Carl,
This may be subjective but I see game as not just learning tricks to fool a girl, but at it’s most authentic as a quest of personal improvement across the spectra of physical, financial, success, power, intellectual etc. Therefore you are improving your abilities organically and are genuinely becoming more attractive. A man who works out and is physically healthy and imposing gains an edge and I can respect that. A man who gets pectoral implants is taking a shortcut and his demeanor and confidence will reflect that. He hasn’t done the work to build his inner resolve, confidence and resiliency, just put a band-aid over his insecurities. Reasonably perceptive people will sense the difference regardless of whether they know the truth behind his build.
True Lee,
Women care far less about this than men, provided you’re at least in the average range. After a certain point this becomes about oneself and one’s insecurity just like with implants. If a woman’s a natural B-C most men would be perfectly happy with her tits if they have a decent shape and are perky. If she gets some freakish double G implants or something it’s no longer about attracting men but about her insecurity. Likewise most gals are afraid of the giant cock. This doesn’t prevent men from viewing it as the seat of their manhood and I guarantee you if the option existed a bunch of insecure jackasses would rush out and buy a footlong thinking it would get them pussy.
>You are right though, for the individuals who through external intervention successfully deceive a higher quality partner than they would otherwise get into copulating with them, it’s a come up.
Yes and since game only works on individual level (on macro level it’s pretty much zero sum) I don’t see why this should be out of the individuals interest.
> Bear in mind though that women are far less interested in male attractiveness in a physical sense than they are in social dominance, wealth and power, thus far things that cannot be surgically enhanced.
Surgically perhaps not (not entirely clear though, at least attractiveness correlates significantly to job market outcomes), but chemically for sure (be it anti depressants, mild amphetamines and related compounds or modafinil and who knows what’s next – nasal oxytocin sprays sound interesting for starters)…
PS: I agree with Lee that the whole dick game idea is ludicrous for 98% of all men out there. The fact that there are certainly enough idiots (else the penis enlargement spam would have ceased long ago) who do not understand that does not change it.
Hilarious episode…
I don’t see why this should be out of the individuals interest.
It isn’t if you are genetically disadvantaged, individuals who are will benefit if they can successfully deceive a higher quality mate. An Alpha wouldn’t approve of it just as the naturally gifted athlete wouldn’t approve of lesser athletes using steroids to level the playing field, or the DeBeers company wants to establish a clear line between natural diamonds and lab created ones. The presently enfranchised don’t want to give up their advantage of course. In the game of reproduction though the consequences of muddying these signals can be more far reaching. It’s deleterious for the enfranchised but beneficial for the disenfranchised. As a group we fall into broad scale prisoner’s dilemma sort of scenario where individual actors will try to game the system to their advantage, but there is some optimal level after which they will generally self-inhibit because group interest will intervene when self interest is given too much primacy. This should follow the dynamic of how we deal with criminals, the harshness of the retributive social actions will be in measure to the degree of the violation of the collective interest of a society. If this assessment is accurate, then some individuals will pursue these to some degree but any advantage arises out of the infrequency of it’s practitioners. This is much like the Alpha/Beta dichotomy. If enough men become Alpha, the relative advantage of being a beta male will increase and the advantage to further men going Alpha will undergo ever diminishing returns. Any edge one might have, has the greatest benefit when it’s not widely practiced or perceptible. Breast implants fail this test because up close you can detect that a woman has had them, so the deception can only be effective with men she keeps at arm’s length. They’re a great tool for the golddigger but ill-fitted to the woman who wants to attract and keep a high-quality male, generally speaking.
Chemical enhancement is the name of the game in the States and is less perceptible. We’ve long practiced this through the use of perfumes and more recently drugs. We are indeed a medicated nation but I view this in the same way. Initially you might not detect a prospective partner is on anti-depressants or whatever but upon more intimate knowledge you will come to know this. I view such dependencies as heritable and disadvantageous and will discount the reproductive capital of such an individual accordingly. One wants vibrant and non-chemically dependent offspring if possible. The use of artificial pheromone products might fall in this category too, but again you’ll likely discern their ploy at some point, or they’ll simply become complacent and stop using them at which point you’ll inexplicably lose some attraction for them. Gene therapy here or across the board would pass the detectability test provided you don’t do mutual genetic counseling, but widespread availability of such measures, again, will eliminate their effectiveness.
Yes, dick game is gay. That’s where it might potentially be advantageous, albeit not reproductively.
But that is no longer the individuals perspective but its competitors’ who – since it is largely a zero sum game – will naturally be worse off. As you point out, status and dominance are (by their very definition) purely positional goods (status itself is probably the quintessential positional good)- but beauty far and by large is not. This gives interesting implications, if more women get prettier by having nose jobs or better teeth by having braces, that may be a net benefit to anyone who is not shopping for a mother for his children. It may even be an advantage for the one who is looking for a mother for his children if previously he would have ended up with the same genes but less to show for.
And in the case of “chemical cheating”, people not looking for LTR or even children may not care if their partner notices their defection, by that time, they may well be sleeping with another hottie. Hence it may be perfectly rational for a player to use these means to his advantage. This would seem to hurt provider betas the most as suddenly, there are more fake alphas around who are using tools that they cannot adapt to their own goals.
Right, merely from a superficial and individual standpoint it doesn’t matter if you aren’t looking to have children and we’re all part individual actors. To what extent we consider the health of society at large is an individual quality, although one that tends to be present in leaders of men, aka natural Alphas. Keep in mind too that my ev. psych. bias keeps my focal point on the naturalistic perspective, the gene-centric one, but there are many ways to skin a cat, which is why each game and alpha site has its own value and niche. Call me competitive but even if nobody else were to know, I take more satisfaction from obtaining the genuinely beautiful than the man-made. A fake Rolex to most people gives the same utility as the real deal, but the man wearing it knows whether its authentic or just a facade. We tend to live in an image conscious vs. a substance oriented society so doubtless there is no lack of people who would prefer the easy way out, and don’t get me wrong, in a pinch I’d bang a gal with implants, but it wouldn’t be as intrinsically satisfying to me beyond the purely physical level. This is where Alpha philosophy and game part ways. One can use game to bed chicks even if one is on every other level a loser. Under the fake it ’til you make if philosophy this is better than sitting at home playing world of warcraft and is a step that will build confidence and satisfy a need, but my view is that this is but a step on the path to social dominance. A beta can game chicks, but his life would be less fulfilling for me. Takes all kinds though and many are more than willing to settle for the minimum. As for the beta provider, he has a difficult time competing in our society because we’re generally so emasculated, but in a more naturally balanced one he’d fare better. It’s possible that a surplus of fake Alphas that can successfully deceive women would increase the relative value of the milquetoast beta.
[...] Dominance tells about new technology that could be used to grow new body [...]
Plastic surgery, hormone injections – I’ve always seen that stuff as “messy” work, the medical equivalent of the 8-track. It’s a holdover technology until we develop the means to make true designer babies. Which, barring unforeseen social consequences, I have no problem with – it’s not messing with God’s work if you’re God.
Yes, messy. It’s band-aid technology. I have little issue with designer babies within the confines of normative human gene expression and presuming changes made for the better for one reason or another. Though I can’t imagine why you’d want to do it we should definitely prohibit deliberately giving your offspring a disadvantage or freak trait, like a disease or cat ears etc. If you want to ensure against disease and build robust health and physique or beauty within reason I can’t see where this is that bad a thing if done on a genetic level. It would certainly improve your offspring’s reproductive advantages. On the other hand genetic modification is at this time such a crude science that it’s impossible to be sure you are avoiding unintended consequences. It’s a shotgun approach to insert genes and they may disrupt requisite genes by landing in the middle of their sequence. Like nanotech the state of the technology has to advance to where we can build the genome from the ground up base-pair by base-pair with perfect accuracy and with near perfect understanding of not only the function of each gene, but the potential interactions you may be skewing by changing one cog in the system. Getting there is going to require decades of research and massively powerful multi-petabyte or greater modeling systems. Blue-gene is the state of the art for decoding genes. How much more powerful would the system need to be to model the full genome accurately to investigate phenotypic modifications across an entire lifetime so you could tweak the inputs one variable at a time? Thrilling to think we may have the ability within our lifetimes though…
Haha, I enjoyed this story, aDmin, but an Alpha male knows that the true test of masculinity is the ability to give the opposite sex an orgasm, regardless o size. For some time now, I’ve felt that women tend to be an accurate barometer of Alpha-Dominance, and their incessant bitching shouldn’t be taken as an insult, but rather as opportunity for her latent understanding of what it means to be an Alpha Male.
I agree with you in the sense that it would be far superior to attain this through Darwinian means, but I think it’s going to be a skipped advantage, just like cybernetics. By my estimation, we’ll see Metal Limbs for about 3 years until lab grown stem cell copies can be grown in jars. I think that humanity will take control of its own evolution before we try to take advantage of natures inherent laws. The same way we would rather have a starship go faster than light, or build a submarine, rather than waiting for coral to grow correctly, as marvelous as it would be.
That being said, /of course/ I dont need this kind of procedure
I think I told you about a geneticist who was capable of making a virus which grafted genes wholesale onto your existing Genome, in such a way that he could make you the Hulk. This is very similar.
Alex
Of course ability and personality trump size. As I said gay men would give more of a shit about these enhancements than the average female since men are more visual.
Sure there are always those who will try to game the system, but they still fail to pass on the purchased traits and lack the personal development that is the greatest allure of all, strength of character and force of frame/charisma. They may get a leg up but the bolt on physical improvement bypasses the most critical factors.