I am posting this based on the awsomeness of the title.
-----
Your Semen in a Mouse
Growing human prostates in lab animals.
By William Saletan
Posted Monday, Feb. 27, 2006, at 7:57 AM ET
New column 2/24. (For the latest Human Nature columns on abortion, Olympic doping, and remote-controlled killing, click here.)
Scientists grew human prostate glands in mice. They combined mouse prostate cells with human embryonic stem cells, cultivated the combined tissue in the lab, and implanted it in mice, where it grew into functional human prostates. Advertised benefit: We can study the course, treatment, and prevention of cancer in these prostates without giving a damn about the hosts, since they're just mice. (For Human Nature's update on implanting human brain cells in mice, click here. For President Bush's warning against "creating human-animal hybrids," click here.)
Drug companies won't make a male birth control pill, because men won't take it, according to the original engineer of the female birth control pill. Carl Djerassi says we could make a male pill today based on the same hormonal logic that guided development of the female pill. But he says no company is interested, because men won't take such a pill, because there might be a slight risk of impotence, and men care more about preserving their virility even in old age than about sparing their partner an unintended pregnancy. (For Human Nature's previous update on NIH-funded research into developing a male contraceptive, click here.)http://www.slate.com/id/2137001/fr/rss/
-----
Your Semen in a Mouse
Growing human prostates in lab animals.
By William Saletan
Posted Monday, Feb. 27, 2006, at 7:57 AM ET
New column 2/24. (For the latest Human Nature columns on abortion, Olympic doping, and remote-controlled killing, click here.)
Scientists grew human prostate glands in mice. They combined mouse prostate cells with human embryonic stem cells, cultivated the combined tissue in the lab, and implanted it in mice, where it grew into functional human prostates. Advertised benefit: We can study the course, treatment, and prevention of cancer in these prostates without giving a damn about the hosts, since they're just mice. (For Human Nature's update on implanting human brain cells in mice, click here. For President Bush's warning against "creating human-animal hybrids," click here.)
Drug companies won't make a male birth control pill, because men won't take it, according to the original engineer of the female birth control pill. Carl Djerassi says we could make a male pill today based on the same hormonal logic that guided development of the female pill. But he says no company is interested, because men won't take such a pill, because there might be a slight risk of impotence, and men care more about preserving their virility even in old age than about sparing their partner an unintended pregnancy. (For Human Nature's previous update on NIH-funded research into developing a male contraceptive, click here.)http://www.slate.com/id/2137001/fr/rss/
