We've got big balls

April 4, 2006 4:49 PM

Mouse balls aren't the only testes that can heal. PrimeGen Biotech has announced just a few days later that they have discovered the same thing in human balls. That was quick.
posted by the giant pill (20 comments total)

Hey, ladies. My balls having healing powers.
posted by horsewithnoname at 4:55 PM on April 4, 2006

Sounds like a load of bollocks.
posted by Mr Bluesky at 4:57 PM on April 4, 2006

"California firm PrimeGen Biotech says its technology has been used to coax brain, heart and bone cells from a type of cell in gonads called the germ line."

So, pretty soon, I'll be thinking with my balls.

Wait. Old news.
posted by dsword at 5:00 PM on April 4, 2006

some of us already know of the healing power of genitalia.
posted by thanatogenous at 5:03 PM on April 4, 2006

Looks like I'm back on the rugby team.
posted by Smedleyman at 5:04 PM on April 4, 2006

posted by Effigy2000 at 5:13 PM on April 4, 2006

Blair and Bush -- now's the chance to put your cojones to good use! Saddle on up! Yee-haw, cowboys.
posted by ericb at 5:16 PM on April 4, 2006

MR. T ATE MY GERM LINE!
posted by brain_drain at 5:26 PM on April 4, 2006

You know, if you can cause the testies to create stem cells, could these stem cells then grow into full babies?

The idea of taking a single cell from the body, and then just growing it into a new person really freaks me out.

But the idea of taking a normal egg cell, replacing the DNA with DNA from another fully grown adult and turning that into another person does not freak me out at all.

Odd.
posted by delmoi at 5:28 PM on April 4, 2006

I still use ball mouse and love it.
posted by archkim at 5:33 PM on April 4, 2006

You know, if you can cause the testies [sic] to create stem cells...

Alien Ball: The elders tell of a young ball much like you. He bounced three meters in the air. Then he bounced 1.8 meters in the air. Then he bounced 4 meters in the air. Do I make myself clear?

Henry Kissinger: Mr. Ambassador, our people tell the same story.

Bender: Oh! Argh! These balls are making me testy! If they don’t stop bouncing and jiggling, I swear I’m going to shove this treaty up their -- wait a second, where do you shove things up a ball?

Henry Kissinger: This isn’t a productive area of discussion.
posted by davejay at 5:37 PM on April 4, 2006

MetaFilter: This isn't a productive area of discussion.

just wanted to get that out of the way
posted by davejay at 5:40 PM on April 4, 2006

Wow. That is nuts.
posted by milquetoast at 5:45 PM on April 4, 2006

"Germ cells isolated from adult human testis can be therapeutically reprogrammed to have the ability to differentiate into cells that can be used therapeutically for cell-based regenerative medicine," Silva's team wrote in a paper.

you just squeeze 'em a little.
posted by carsonb at 5:48 PM on April 4, 2006

If my balls can grow other organs, I want them to be eyes, so I can finally see what I'm doing.
posted by Kickstart70 at 5:58 PM on April 4, 2006

At last I have an excuse for my diet.
posted by Astro Zombie at 6:11 PM on April 4, 2006

Nut butter...the essence of life.
posted by Falconetti at 6:12 PM on April 4, 2006

MMMMMMmmmmmnut butttter!
posted by Mr Bluesky at 7:00 PM on April 4, 2006

And here we go again, with thos damn scientists pushing society into a sweaty ethical position that nobody wants to be all bunched up against.

• It is unethical to use embryonic testicular stem cells, as the process to obtain them destroys a human embryo testicle. The destruction of human life testicle cannot be justified, even if the aim is to save other human life.
• Most scientists admit that all the potential benefits of embryonic testicular stem cells are still a long way off in the future.
• The destruction of human embryos testicles for research is morally repugnant to many groups including the Catholic Church me and some disability rights advocates.
• The fact that frozen embryos testicles will eventually die is no reason to prematurely kill them. After all, all of us will eventually die, but that does not justify being killed. Letting die is not the same as deliberate killing
• The lack of self-awareness argument regarding an embryo a testicle ignores its potential. Within nine months or less, it will have emotions and consciousness. If we say that an embryo testicle is not a person because it is not fully conscious, we must also admit that people who are comatose or senile are lacking in personhood. The end result of this is a sliding scale of humanity with a tick list of characteristics which define humanity. This raises the questions: who ticks those boxes; who sets the criteria? Retooled from here

posted by The Bishop of Turkey at 9:41 PM on April 4, 2006

If you pull my stem while in a cell, I'm your daddy.

Fascinating and encouraging. Daddy needs a new pair of lungs.
posted by Goofyy at 11:21 PM on April 4, 2006