Organ Donation - Page 4 - Video Games Forum

Startup · #31 (**permalink**) 05-19-2004, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatboy

If you're terminally ill, you won't be able to get life insurance. And most insurance policies don't cover suicide.

Actually, I think most insurance policies won't pay if the insured commits suicide within a set amount of years (usually three). After that, most insurance contracts will pay regardless of whether the insured kills himself or not.

Startup · #32 (**permalink**) 05-19-2004, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starfury

I don't know about the US, but in Switzerland they cover it, if it's been more than three years since the contract started.

I guess I should have read the rest of the threads before I replied to fatboy's reply. I just replied the same thing. Oops.

fatboy · #33 (**permalink**) 05-19-2004, 07:03 PM

Well, after some research, it appears that I'm wrong. It's exactly as Startup said (refund of premiums paid) but most are set at two years.

Learn something new everyday, that's my motto.

Rob_G · #34 (**permalink**) 05-20-2004, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SwamP_ThinG

Seriously, i think medical researchers should be allowed to work with cloning techniques to find workable ways of growing new organs for those who need them. The technology is there already. You take some cells from the man who needs a transplant, and grow a whole new organ in a lab. That way you don´t have to take imuno-supressor drugs for the rest of your life, as the organ has your "signature" on it, and the body accepts it without rejection.
If people can grow whatever organs they need, the organ black market would cease to exist. Just as those desperate poor people who sell their own body parts for money. This would all go away.

Actually, that technology isn't there yet, but it will be 'soon' as long as politicians don't stop it. Some think it's immoral.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SwamP_ThinG

Poor people should be given equal chances of finding an organ suited for their bodies. It is imoral that only rich people are "entitled" to get a second chance in life. Rich people should have to submitt to the same rules and waiting lists that the poor man is forced to.
Poor people have as much right to life as any other person, rich or poor. And personnal fortune shouldn´t have anything to do with it.
The organ cloning system would get rid of all these injustices in a second.
The prices for human organs should be fixed and controlled by a central institution, like the Ministery of Health, and distributed according to health status priorities, and order of arrival. First come, first serve.

This is what I was trying to say earlier. Thank you for writing it down in understandable English :bow:

SwamP_ThinG · #35 (**permalink**) 05-20-2004, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob_G

Actually, that technology isn't there yet.

Yes, it is. If they can grow you a new ear in the back of a lab rat, they can grow other things.

Starfury · #36 (**permalink**) 05-20-2004, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SwamP_ThinG

Yes, it is. If they can grow you a new ear in the back of a lab rat, they can grow other things.

There's a still bit of a difference in difficulty between cultivating half a handful of cartilage material on a mouses back and growing a new liver...

SwamP_ThinG · #37 (**permalink**) 05-20-2004, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starfury

There's a still bit of a difference in difficulty between cultivating half a handful of cartilage material on a mouses back and growing a new liver...

Not quite. Some of the more complex organs are still far away, but we are capable of growing other less complex organs in a lab. They take some original cells of the organ, induce their replication and shape it to grow into a certain form, either in vitro or attached to another organism, like a pig or rat to support its growth. The end result is a virtually identical organ.
The technology to grow these organs exists already, what doesn´t exist is the political will and the correct legislation. Thus the work is on standby.
But if permission was given, we could have a working program in just a few years.

Rob_G · #38 (**permalink**) 05-20-2004, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SwamP_ThinG

Not quite. Some of the more complex organs are still far away, but we are capable of growing other less complex organs in a lab. They take some original cells of the organ, induce their replication and shape it to grow into a certain form, either in vitro or attached to another organism, like a pig or rat to support its growth. The end result is a virtually identical organ.

It's not that easy. Trust me, I'm a biologist :cool: . We're still many years away from important organs, like harts and lungs, to be 'produced' in this way. Even with proper legislation. Like starfury said, that mouse with a human ear is something entirely different. It's not like that mouse had the actual hearing 'organ' on it's back, it was just some cartilage material.

SwamP_ThinG · #39 (**permalink**) 05-20-2004, 09:50 PM

From important organs, yes. Like i said, less complex organs are possible. For the more complex, like hearts and lungues, we need time. But for small organs, the know how exists. All that is lacking is a proper legislation and political aproval. Otherwise, we are stuck with "rogue" reserchers doing their research in a basement somewhere, hidden from sight.
If such a research received government funds and access to the best labs, we could have palpable results by the end of the decade.