Scientists grow artificial penis

[Kipling]

TUESDAY, May 23 (HealthDay News) — Success with randy, replicating rabbits suggests that an "artificial penis" made from a patient's own penile cells might someday help men challenged by tough-to-treat impotence.

In the study, adult male rabbits with severely damaged penises received a graft of specially engineered penile tissue. The animals then re-grew full penises that functioned normally — even to the point of successfully impregnating females.

"This is very exciting — the researchers have been working on this for a long time in a variety of different organs. It's not yet clinically available, but if it works and proves safe and effective, it would be a tremendous advance," said Dr. Ira Sharlip, a spokesman for the American Urological Association and a clinical professor of urology at the University of California, San Francisco.

Sharlip was not involved in the study, which was led by Dr. Anthony Atala, director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. His team reported its findings Tuesday at the American Urological Association annual meeting, in Atlanta.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthology/story?id=1994541&page=1

I'm sure that this is a useful technology which will help a lot of men and families, but my inner child is giggling.

[rucky]

1. It's official. Men are obsolete. n/t

[IA_Seth]

4. My first thought....we're screwed. lol n/t

[gizmo1979]

32. Yep we're screwed!

Woe is us!

[BlooInBloo]

58. More to the point... the ladies are screwed...

:rofl:

[cassiepriam]

35. I wonder what the world would be like without men??? nt

[LiberalEsto]

40. More peaceful n/t

[Taxloss]

52. (Cough cough) Thatcher, Bloody Mary, Elizabeth I, Boudicca, Catherine the

Great, Madam Ceaucescu, Condi, Ann Coulter, Zenobia ...

[cassiepriam]

53. But they are the exception, not the rule. nt

[Taxloss]

54. So what you're saying is that all males, or at least all male rulers, are

violent?

Or just the huge majority?

(Gandhi, MLK, Peter Benenson, Nelson Mandela, etc.)

[meow2u3]

84. The greatest leaders--and the worst tyrants--have been men

More can go right with men (e.g., Big Dog, Dean, Gandhi, MLK, RFK, Wellstone) and more can go wrong with them (e.g., Hitler, Stalin, Attila the Hun, */Cheney). There has been few women who have been great leaders or bloody tyrants.

[Taxloss]

85. I've heard this theory.

"There have been no female Jack the Rippers because there have been no female Mozarts."

I think it may be true, that men range wider, from sublime genius to unimaginable cruelty and violence.

[Hosnon]

115. As a male, I like that theory:) nt

[Nederland]

57. Surely you don't believe that

Making generalizations about either sex is doomed to be inaccurate. I guess I believe:

1) There are lots of good men
2) There are lots of good women
3) There are a handful of male assholes
4) There are a handful of female assholes
5) Power corrupts regardless of gender

[cassiepriam]

59. I am just saying testosterone is different from estrogen. That is a fact.

I was just wondering what it would be like to have no male aggressive energy on the planet.

And yes I am sure we owe much to that male energy, but I just was trying to picture the planet w/o men.

Sorry guys, didn't mean to get your feathers ruffled.

[Taxloss]

90. All humans contain both oestrogen and testosterone, in varying quantities.

That's a fact.

Edit:typo.

[cassiepriam]

92. Sigh, you are being so left brained and missing my point altogether..

Lighten up my friend.

Think about the planet will all men.

Think about the planet with all women.

It is just an interesting theoretical discussion....

[Taxloss]

93. Oddly enough, an all-male planet might be more peaceful.

Without sexual selection in the mix, competitiveness would drop. (If you look are far-right programmes like Nazism, they are deep-rooted in sexual competition and emasculation fears.) Not that this is in any way the "fault" of women, but a good portion of the appeal of things like power and money would diminish.

Just a thought.

[TheWraith]

106. But you'd have a veeeery high suicide rate. NT.

[ebayfool]

108. I dunno - all male prisons seem to be pretty well known for ...

'sexual competition'. Just transferred to the weaker/smaller/prettier(?) section of the population. I haven't heard as much @ how it works in all female population prisons - probably similar.

Guess we'll just have to keep the fellas around ... besides, they're fun to talk to (most days!). :evilgrin:






I spent all evening resisting clicking on this thread ... I'm so weak, I caved! :rofl:

[Taxloss]

123. True.

And an artificial penis can't put up shelves, flush spiders or check out that weird noise at 3am.

[Warren DeMontague]

102. Think about the planet with no bullshit, broad swipe generalizations

of any kind...

Wow. Boggles the old mind-io, doesn't it?

[TheWraith]

105. You comment was based on a questionable premise.

Specifically, you seemed to be implying that the world would be free of "agressive energy." Perhaps you're unaware that women are every bit as capable of violence as men, or perhaps you simply choose to ignore that fact in order to suit a view of your gender that's all sweetness and light.

[Kipling]

113. Which female leaders are "the rule"?

[Kellanved]

56. cheap stereotype

n/t

[Taxloss]

86. What, "all men are warlike"?

I agree.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

64. Worse Off Than It Is Now.

[Conan_The_Barbarian]

100. Dull

[Castilleja]

103. I am pretty sure I don't want to find out...

A world full of nothing but women would not be a healthy state. Men are an essential counterbalance to women. Besides, I like men alot.

[Swamp Rat]

79. LOLOL!!!

:rofl:

[LeftHander]

119. No...we can have TWO now....how cool is that....?

Now where to grow the other one....hmmmmm.....

[Taxloss]

121. Why stop at two?! n/t

[rucky]

126. they don't call you lefthander for nothing. n/t

[Buck Laser]

2. Are they going to name it "George?"

[reichstag911]

23. No, he's a real prick! n/t

[NC_Nurse]

3. Thank God there's always

someone working on the solutions to erectile dysfunction!!!
What a terrible plague it is! :sarcasm:

[Kipling]

14. Why not?

If it didn't effect people then they wouldn't spend this much money on it. It'd only be spent on beer otherwise, after all. Anyway, this could help victims of accidents too. Very unpleasant accidents.

[Warren DeMontague]

46. Yeah, really.

We should be working on ways to prevent people from sinning! Life is meant to be endured, not enjoyed!

:sarcasm:

[Poiuyt]

5. "He must have an amazing swanstucker!"

[porphyrian]

29. "There wolf, there castle." - n/t

[NJ_Lib]

6. Is that our worst problem in the medical field?

... Or maybe just a sign that men still rule the world...?

[Boojatta]

7. A sign that impotent men rule the world. Ironic, isn't it? e.o.m.

[NC_Nurse]

10. HAHAHAHAHA!

So true! :D

[rucky]

8. Indirectly, yes.

maybe if we treat all the men's erectile dysfunctions, they'll stay out of conservative politics?

:shrug:

[SoCalDem]

13. For parents of sons with urological birth defects, it could be an answer

to a prayer.

There are a lot of urological birth defects and since they involve the "private parts" they are rarely discussed in "polite society".. It's a crushing blow to a family though, because a boy's self esteem is so wrapped up in how he measures up to the "other boys".

I know this is not the cure for cancer, but it offers some hope to a lot more parents than you could ever imagine..

[NJ_Lib]

19. By using the term...

"measure up", I'm sensing you're talking size here not an actual defect, and if that's so, wouldn't this be considered a form of plastic surgery?

[SoCalDem]

55. Our oldest son was born with extrophy of the bladder

and had to endure 28 surgeries at Mayo Clinic before he was 8 years old.. That particular defect is brutal when it happens to boys, because there is very little "south" of the bladder, and it's outside of the andomen. There was a small amount of penile tissue, but surgeons are not magicians. It was only due to excellent doctors, fantastic parenting (pats self on back), and a very resiliant little boy, that this turned out as well as it could have. At 8, the scar tissue from all the attempts, necessitated a urostomy (which is what Children's Hospital in Chicago suggested at 1 wk of age), but we had to try to correct the defect if it could be done.. We could never have lived with ourselves if he had asked us later whay we had not tried to correct it..

When he was 8, he was practically an adult at medical stuff, so he participated in the ultimate decision.. His doctor was very impressed with his knowledge of what was going on and what would change. We had to preserve his kidneys, and he knew that kidney damage was way worse than looking "different".

he's 33, married and very successful..and happy.. but a lot of boys born with this actually commit suicide due to the severe depressions some of them have.

His urologist was truly amazed at how well adjusted he was, and actually had our son counsel some young boys who were going through surgery similar to his..

[Swamp Rat]

80. Thank you for sharing that

:hi:

[NJ_Lib]

82. It's hard enough being a parent...

... of a healthy child, I cannot imagine the horror of having a child with such a painful and private illness. Thanks for enlightening me to this disorder and reminding me to just be grateful for the small things in life. I'm so thrilled to know your son is now a grown, married man and most importantly, happy.... I love a happy ending! :)

[ismnotwasm]

95. Wow

He sounds like a wonderful man. I was going to ignore this thread until I read your post, how thoughful and giving of you to share that.
I agree, great parenting to have carry him through!

[Hekate]

107. Thank you for educating us. This new technique really will be a godsend...

... for boys with birth defects or any male who has suffered a devastating accident.

I'm so glad to hear your son came through it all so well -- it took tremendous courage on all your parts.

Hekate

[SoCalDem]

109. We survived it..but barely..

He was our first child, and after a model pregnancy, I had a 50% abruption (unrelated to his condition), and had to have emergency c-section. He came almost 7 weeks early, and after 3 weeks in the hospital he only weighed 4lb 12 oz when he came home.. he had his first surgery before he weighed 5 lbs..
My husband saved me.. I was a basketcase for months, and he ended up doing almost EVERYTHING.. (psychological care was not popular in 1973), and I pretty much hid out in bed all day.

I would have to say that I was severly depressed for a few years.

Our second son was 2 days off due date, weighed almost 8 lbs and was perfect.. and even that sent me around the bend again, because it was so unfair that my little then 4 yr old had to endure so much.. He broke my heart when he asked.."Mom when will Michael have HIS operations"..

The doctors all told us that we had to be tough and not turn our son into a "urological cripple", so we made him do everything the others did (we have 3 sons).. He took out the trash, washed cars, played soccer...did everything everyone else did..

The doctors said that with what he had ahead of him, he would have to be extra-tough.. and he is.. He's the boss at work, and decides who gets raises, who gets fired:).. We always called him a control-freak..and he grew into the role :)

He called last week when he was in the midst of deciding who got raises.. His budget included $50K in raises to be spread out over 60 people, and he was taking a break.. becuse he said his brain hurt from figuring out how to spread it around and play fair :)

[Hekate]

112. You must be so proud of him -- and your whole family

I understand the paradoxical feelings when you had a healthy child later. I can't explain it, I just do. I trust he turned out as well as his start in life.

:hug: to you.

Hekate

[Jacobin]

27. I had a client whose son's circumcision went horribly wrong

The laser basically whacked the whole thing off. He was a day old when it happened.

Experts debated about trying to 'turn him into a girl' surgically. Ghastly sad situation.

[demobabe]

30. Oh that is horrible

I just can't imagine. I've never heard of anything like that before. Glad I didn't opt for that option wih my son...

[Jacobin]

37. I'm glad they decided not to 'turn him into a woman'

Fortunately there were some case studies on a baby born a boy who had to have his appendage amputated. They created a vagina for him and tried to make him a girl.

Basically, he was flip city by the time he was a teenager, and they stopped with the 'trying to make him a woman' thingy.

Based on that case study, they built my client an appendage (which wouldn't work, but was an attempt to replace what was there to begin with. This was 15 years or so ago. I haven't followed up to see how he's doing.

Gotta be very difficult

[Odin2005]

69. That was the case study used to distroy the "sex roles are cultural"...

...BS spewed by certain people with ideological axes to grind.

[Rob H.]

33. Yours and Jacobin's posts remind me of "John/Joan"

from John Colapinto's book As Nature Made Him, the true story of a genetic male who was raised as female after a circumcision accident burned his penis off. (He later chose to live as a man when he was told that he'd been born male.) This kind of technology would be perfect in cases like that.

[Jacobin]

38. I read that

Poor guy was really messed up with the switch and the parents were trying to do the right thing, but it really really really didn't work out the way they thought it would

[LisaL]

42. He ended up committing suicide anyway, I believe.

Very sad story.

[Rob H.]

125. Yep, he committed suicide years later

and so did his twin brother. :(

[Kansas Wyatt]

9. Does this mean Republicans can

Overcome their small penis complex?

Fuck'em, ban it like stem cell research.

[leftofthedial]

11. Oh great! More spam.

:argh:

[Castilleja]

104. LOL!

:D

[mrcheerful]

12. The good news is GW will no longer have to bomb brown folks anymore

him and the rest can now have bigger dicks grown for themselves.

[Roland99]

15. And King Missile record sales soar on the news!

;)

[KittyWampus]

72. Ha! Knew All I'd Have To Do Is Scan Thread For Detachable Penis!

:D

[Roland99]

88. Damn! I was beginning to wonder if anyone would catch on!

[yellowcanine]

16. Isn't science wonderful? John Wayne Bobbit should take note.

[Mr.Green93]

17. Was it hard?

To grow?

[IA_Seth]

31. HA! You made me snort. n/t

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

120. Can't breathe! Too funny!!!!!!

[peekaloo]

18. My outer child is rolling!

The good news sir is that we may be able to replace your penis.

The bad news is you'll be hung like a rabbit.

[reichstag911]

25. R.O.F.L.M.A.O.!!! n/t

[hopeisaplace]

60. I burst out laughing with that!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[uppityperson]

87. Now that made me laugh

[Avalux]

20. What a waste of research dollars.

I'm serious - there are life-threatening diseases, emerging infections - important stuff - this isn't important. Old white men rule the world apparently. :hide:

[Warren DeMontague]

50. It would seem to me it would only be a short technological leap from this

to regrowth of other parts of the body.

For instance, victims of female circumcision in third world countries might be able to regain full sexual function and pleasure in their lives.

But I suppose something like that wouldn't be very "important", either.

[SoCalDem]

70. Not all "old white men"..read this and you'll see why

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1275552&mesg_id=1276148

[Avalux]

71. Oh geez.

I was halfway being sarcastic (just my normal state of mind these days) and I end up sticking my foot in my mouth. Sorry - and I think you need a bit of credit for giving your son the support to lead a normal life spite of his obstacles. :hi:

[SoCalDem]

110. No offense taken..

That's the beauty of the web.. you never know when foot will meet mouth.. I have eaten shoe-leather many times:)

A college professor once told me that the only time I opened my mouth was to change feet :hi:

edited for smilies:)

[Bridget Burke]

114. Check some other posts here....

Young boys with serious conditions stand to benefit from this. And the research will help in "growing" other organs.

[dipsydoodle]

21. What they gonna do with them ?

Plant then in Texas so's they can become President one day ?

[skids]

22. /me ponders the potential for polyamorists...

:hide:

[BurtWorm]

24. King Missile song comes true.

Detachable Penis.

:patriot:

[Triana]

26. I'm glad it's so important to these scientists that WOMEN

have and enjoy sex. :sarcasm:

[Raine]

77. Yeah, really

:eyes:

[JVS]

28. Can I get some extra one's put on!

I'm hoping to have an 9 way!

[muriel_volestrangler]

34. It's the return of Spiro Agnew!

(the well known anagram of "grow a penis").

[MGKrebs]

36. Surely Frist will denounce this on the floor of the Senate.

There must be some hint of blasphemy in here somewhere that he can use to twist up the flock. All we need is a video for him to review!

Rabbit penile implants. How long before that hits the podcasts?

[Snivi Yllom]

39. pic

[Rex]

41. The Clenis is pleased.

nt

[joeunderdog]

43. These are ILLEGAL in South Carolina.

The ones that vibrate are Felonies.

[yurbud]

44. what would scientists do with penis? Don't need one to play videogames

[Kipling]

51. For that extra button combo...

[Flubadubya]

68. Are you crazy? Every man needs a joystick!

I just wonder if they can control the SIZE during the growth process. Hmmm... :silly:

[Warren DeMontague]

45. They kept em in a paneled basement, fed em pork rinds, & played right wing

AM radio all day long.

Voila! Instant Penis!

[Jigarotta]

47. lots of artificial pricks in the WH. Big Richard is only one. nt

[neoblues]

48. It'd be nice if they could...

Re-grow the foreskin for those who were subjected to circumcision without their consent ("do you consent to have part of your penis chopped off? gah gaah gooki! Okay, I'll take that as a Yes..."). Of course most men would like a little increase in size...

Hey, I'd settle for the ability to grow new hair (and I'm not even balding, just thinning such that I myself would notice). Seems the simple-seeming things aren't being focussed on (it must either be life or sex threatening?)--perhaps it's just because of the hundreds of millions of dollars that would be lost when the snake oil and hair implant businesses would be shut down...

Many older men's fantasies... plenty of hair on their heads (regrown if possible) and their own hard working (enhanced if possible) schlong! Not to worry, Science (genetics) will save you!

[POAS]

49. Just what we need..

more artificial pricks

[deaniac21]

61. I've been purchasing them for years.....

:shrug:

[DUHandle]

62. This story broke

two years ago, give or take.

[ComerPerro]

63. What will be cheaper, an H3 or a second penis?

[JackDragna]

65. He's already the president.

This isn't news.

[Capn Sunshine]

66. Wow, I'm buying a lab

I'm going to be a penis farmer!

[KansDem]

67. Reminds me of a joke (caution: poor taste warning)

A woman goes out shopping for a present for her husband's upcoming birthday. She notices an interesting-looking wallet in the window of a men's store, and goes in to inquire about it. "How much is that wallet in the window?" she asks the clerk. "$225" came the reply. "$225?!" she responds incredulously. "Why so much?" "Well," the clerk explains, "it's made from foreskins." Somewhat surprised, the woman says, "I can see why that might be considered 'exotic' to some degree, but still, it's not like foreskins are a rare commodity these days. It still doesn't explain why it costs so much" The clerk concludes, "When you rub it, it turns into a suitcase."

[DelawareValleyDem]

73. Ah, that's nothing. I'd be more surprised to hear

that a chickenhawk grew a set of balls and enlisted.

[yurbud]

74. I was working on an April Fool's bit about Wolfowitz & Perle opening a

bed & breakfast in Basra.

The next time a neocon tells us things are going swell over there, they should be far from the Green Zone without any military protection. Then I'll believe them (at least until they end up like those blackwater mercenaries hanging from a bridge in Fallujah.

[splat@14]

75. Umm Doc, I'll have the one from the horse please!

[zbdent]

76. cue knee-jerk right-winger Clinton joke

:eyes:

[me b zola]

78. I think that this is good news

I had a friend that was born as a woman that was in the process of becoming a man. At that time there were only two options for developing male genitalia, and the results from either techinique were far from normal organs.

This is great news for those physically born as woman who so desperately want their physical self to match their emotional/inner self.

[jmowreader]

81. GM will buy the patent and shelve it

If you can go to a clinic somewhere and get a new, larger penis grown and attached, the market for SUVs will disappear overnight.

[boston bean]

83. Onward with stem cell research. This will make those

religious men change their minds.

Hell, if they can grow a new penis its gods will.

[sellitman]

89. Now if they could just grow balls they might have something!

:rofl:

[johnaries]

91. Oh, GREAT. More penis spam on it's way. n/t

[The Straight Story]

94. Can they make mine bigger? (nt)

[ronnykmarshall]

96. Good news for Bush Co.

They are all a bunch of dickless wonders.

[RagingInMiami]

97. For that dude who always wanted to be in porns

But could never measure up.

[NuttyFluffers]

98. i wonder if this can help our Female-to-Male transexual bretheren

it would definitely be a big step, because current technology is not adequate enough to build artificial penis' according to the patients' needs.

[Sacajawea]

99. How did all these adult rabbits get "severely damaged penises?"

To me, that's the key question.

Admittedly, I didn't read the article because I'm afraid that if I were to read that they were damaged deliberately, it would enrage me to the point where I couldn't see straight.

As a 42+ year vegetarian, the mere thought of animal experimentation still makes me crazy.

[Conan_The_Barbarian]

101. Does this mean we can well... upgrade?

You know damn well what I mean!

[sandnsea]

111. interesting

maybe our fellas can get a spare... woohoo!!!

:rofl:

[MsTryska]

116. all i wonder is this:

How much research money is spent to make sure men can pop boners whenever they want?

[LostinVA]

117. Hmmm... sales of sports cars will start plummeting.....

[mmarcus]

118. LOL. And missiles, bullets, smart bombs and other things penile

can't we just make penises instead?

[LostinVA]

122. Excellent idea!

[GreenPartyVoter]

124. How did the bunnies get damaged equipment?