Re: Growth hormone?

From: Jeff Davis (jrd1415@yahoo.com)
Date: Wed Jul 17 2002 - 16:29:20 MDT


Extropes,

Samantha Atkins wrote:

"The US is the only developed country I know of that
allows using recombinant bovine growth hormone in
feeding its dairy cows. This stuff passes into our
milk supply."

Speaking of (1)recombinant genes, and (2)parental
choice for enhancement of their offspring:

Years back, I read about the laborious extraction of
human growth hormone from human pituitaries taken from
cadavers, and its use to correct dwarfism. It was
part of a story about Genentech, and its efforts, in
the earliest moments of the genetic engineering era,
to make recombinant technology a reality.

Years later I read that the production of HGH had
fulfilled its promise and become Genentech's vastly
profitable flagship product. I often puzzled over
this because I was fairly sure that dwarfism wasn't
prevalent enough to account for this. Even the use of
HGH in a drug regimen to retard the effects of aging
didn't seem widespread enough to account for the
hundreds of millions of dollars in sales of HGH. So I
remained puzzled.

Then last year, a couple that had made big bucks
working for Genentech, and had retired to cruise the
world on their motor sailer, docked in Powell River on
their way back from Alaska, and came over to the house
for dinner. Sitting on the back deck, overlooking
barbecued steaks and the Straits of Georgia, I put the
question to them. Their answer was boringly
straightforward.

Pediatricians would recommend HGH treatment whenever
they encountered any case of a less-than-median growth
rate. No more shrimpy kids, and health insurance
foots the bill. As we all know, taller is better,
more successful.

So be advised, not only are they adding it to Elsie's
chow, they're slamming it mainline into the lifeblood
of your babies, so that--save us dear lord from the
work of satan--all our kids will grow up tall and
beautiful (well, ok,...just tall).

Have a nice day.

Best, Jeff Davis

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do
as you damn well please. And with it comes the only
basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences."
                    P.J. O'Rourke

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