Scientists Derive Gelatin From Human Tissue 123
An anonymous reader writes "Conventional gelatin is made from collagen inside animals' skin and bones, however a group of researchers has managed to replace that animal base with a human one. The process involves taking human gelatin genes and inserting them into a strain of yeast, which can be cultivated to grow gelatin with controllable features. Jinchun Chen, the leader of the study, and his colleagues believe they can scale this process up to produce large amounts of human-based gelatin for medical uses. The research appears in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry."
Soylent Green Jello. (Score:3, Informative)
Now you know.
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Tastes like lime and kuru.
Human Skin? (Score:1)
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C'MON outta there, Ol' weird Harold!
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It's scrumdiddlyumptious!
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It's (Score:3, Insightful)
it's soylent jello
Not Soylent jello (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Not Soylent jello (Score:5, Funny)
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And they call this progress?
Feed the homeless to the hungry.
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Sounds more like the communist demand to get the last bit out of every worker.
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Sounds more like the communist demand to get the last bit out of every worker.
Sounds more like the communist demand to get the last bite out of every worker.
FTFY
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Fact is that we've had the technology to make gelatin from human tissue for millennia.
Has NBC been around that long?
Finally! (Score:2)
ewww (Score:1)
Why does my jello taste like Grandma?
Re:ewww (Score:5, Funny)
Why does my jello taste like Grandma?
Depends.
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Gross! But I think they use hydrocolloids for those these days.
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More than you know:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDvSPQ7megQ [youtube.com]
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Why does my jello taste like Grandma?
Depends.
They keep the adult diaper on during processing for that extra Grandma flavor. "Depend - Kimberly-Clark"
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Why does my jello taste like Grandma?
How do you know what Grandma tastes like?
YES! (Score:5, Funny)
This means I can finally eat Jello made from Bill Cosby!
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You, Sir, are twisted in the right direction.
I've seen this episode! (Score:2)
The Doctor will create a ganger of himself and figure out how to break the link between Amy and her avatar!
An honest question (Score:4, Insightful)
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Still have to get around the cannibal aspect.
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Is it still cannibalism? It's not actually a person.
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It would be superfluous anyway, since a plant-based gelling agent (pectin) has existed for centuries.
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They are putting gelatin genes into yeast. If Vegans can drink beer can they not eat gelatin as it is? It isn't like the yeast have suddenly become more animal like with a few extra genes.
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For you or me this doesn't matter but for those that want to superpowers it is really important.
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A lot of vegans won't drink beer, as it is sometimes clarified with egg protein, regular gelatin, or isinglass, which is made from the linings of fish swim bladders.
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this hip life style sounds less fun the more I hear about it.
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A lot of vegans won't drink beer, as it is sometimes clarified with egg protein
Further clarifying everything we need to know about their cognitive difficulties.
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A lot of vegans won't drink beer, as it is sometimes clarified with egg protein
Further clarifying everything we need to know about their cognitive difficulties.
No, clarifying agents leave trace amounts behind, vegans, by definition, are scrupulous in avoiding animal products. Hope that clarifies your understanding.
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scrupulous in avoiding animal products
Do you have any idea how many perfectly nice earthworms are killed by plow blades on organic farms as fields are being tilled to plant soybeans so that vegans can smugly pretend they're not bothering any non-plant life forms? Do you know how many scrupulous gardeners use chickens to control insects and weeds, and notice that no hens seem particularly distraught about laying eggs on a regular basis? Do you realize how absurd vegans make themselves sound over matters like this? It's just faux piety, and it's
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How is it faux? They are living their ethics to the best of their abilities, which would seem to be a good practical definition of piety. Do you consider Jains to be practicing false piety when they wear face masks to avoid inhaling fruit flies?
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They are living their ethics to the best of their abilities
Perhaps they are, and thus it's real piety. If so, then what it is instead is a case of faux ethics (in the sense that they are built on internally inconsistent, hypocritical, irrational standards applied capriciously and in a fair-weather, fashion-minded way that highlights the mixed premises and deliberately obtuse, purposefully selective perception of reality that underlies their professed world view).
GMO Vegans? (Score:2)
Do you know any vegans who eat food products made from GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms)?
Unless I miss my guess there will be few to none who would consider this acceptable, regardless of the human source of the inserted gene.
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Re:GMO Vegans? (Score:4, Interesting)
Vega is 26ly away (Score:2)
You'll have to ask the Vegans? If you send a message there now you could get a reply in 52 years
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I would say 'yes', if the people contributing the genes are consenting.
Luckily there's already a few types of vegan 'gelatin', such as agar agar, so we've had jello, marshmallows, etc, for many years already.
And i would certainly prefer those over the human variants. Ew!
- Token Vegan ;)
How about (Score:2)
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I'd say probably not. The definition of vegan is:
Veganism denotes a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude - as far as is possible and practical - all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals, and the environment.
We have animal-free alternatives, so it's a moot point really.
Beyond that, it could be argued we're still exploiting that animal (assuming the cow was raised in captivity.)
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Most vegans avoid transgenic food as well. This isn't really made from humans; it's a human gene expressed in yeast.
Avoiding transgenic food isn't mandatory for vegans. Many at least at margarine, made with highly processed fats, so they're not opposed to all technology. Still, I suspect this would get few takers.
Not that it matters. This isn't for food; it's for medical purposes. If they wanted vegan gelatin from transgenic yeasts they'd have made it from pig genes years ago.
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Even as a vegan you can't get around eating germs and yeast.
They sit on plants too, no matter how much you scrub them.
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Germs and yeasts aren't considered a problem by vegans, but you don't generally get transgenic yeasts just sitting around on food. That's the part that would concern many vegans.
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Oblig: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPUqNFEGPMQ [youtube.com]
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I've seen arguments for vegan/vegetarianism that allows them to consume human flesh if it's produced in a non-destructive manner-- specifically, eating their own placenta. Looking around online shows some interesting links and recipes for that, actually. Some interesting photos and commentary if you search for a blog post with the title of 'Placenta Party'.
Just great (Score:5, Funny)
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Not before you finished your gramma!
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Yumm...always (Score:1)
There's always room for Jell-O.
There's always room for Peop-O! (Score:1)
But if ... (Score:2)
If they could derive human tissue from gelatin, that would be news.
There's always room for... (Score:2)
Human gelatin!
Truth be told, (Score:2)
Never replace (Score:1)
The Pohl house special: Chicken Little.
Obvious Medical Use (Score:2)
The next time I get a cold, I can replace all my lost phlegm with no fear of the dreaded phlegm rejection syndrome.
Do you have any idea what this means? (Score:2)
It means that...
humans are animals!
[dramatic music]
[open-mouthed yawn]
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It means that...
humans are animals!
[dramatic music]
[open-mouthed yawn]
Tasty, tasty animals. Your hungry friend Hannibal
A twisted circle (Score:1)
So, if you take your fat, and make human jello out of it and eat it, do you get fat again and get to repeat the whole process?
Actually this is kind of exciting for the medical field. I would think. If we can develop human genetics to take off in another medium and cultivate parts to replace our own dying ones, that would be GREAT. What's even better is we can make BETTER replacements. They did say a form of jello? The first thing that comes to mind is even BETTER breast enhancements.
Nerve splicing is going
hypoalergic (Score:2)
In case beef/pork allergies exist, this is the solution.
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Now "Certified Human" ballistic gelatin (Score:1)
The right question to be asking... (Score:2)
Re:The right question to be asking... (Score:5, Funny)
What color is it?
Green, presumably.
been there, done that (Score:2)
Purina Zombie Chow (Score:2)
In case of the zombie apocalypse, this is what you can distract them with. Add poison or high explosives, and much hilarity ensues.
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Think again. You'd not only have zombies coming after you, you'd have explosive zombies coming after you that go KABOOM the moment you shove them back.
More modern Martian styled funerals (Score:1)
This is news? (Score:2)
Scientists replacing animal collagen with animal collagen is news? The only thing that is news in this is the way the collagen was obtained.
Jello (Score:2)
Oh NO!
Jello IS people!
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Now, if they could only find a way to make petrol out of the rest of the body ...
Made from blood.. No shortage of that
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Briefly mentioned in the summary: Medical uses. If you can make gelatin that is completely human bio-compatable, you can use it freely in the human body. Infuse it with drugs and you have a time-release capsule that can be implanted. Build it around shattered bone, and you've got a scaffolding that you can re-grow bone on. It'd even make a decent short-term replacement skin in some cases.
Bio-compatable, bio-degradable, flexible, and about the same density as most human tissue. There's lots of uses for
Ballistic gelatin. (Score:2)
Bio-compatable, bio-degradable, flexible, and about the same density as most human tissue. There's lots of uses for that.
Use it for ballistic gelatin. Talk about authenticity!
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