Re: Timeline for the cure of diseases

GBurch1@aol.com
Sun, 16 May 1999 09:19:02 EDT

In a message dated 99-05-10 13:06:55 EDT, echilds@linex.com (Elizabeth Childs) wrote:

> I'm curious when people anticipate various diseases being cured.  I am

> in no way knowledgeable about this, but my general sense is that it will
> probably happen in this general order:
>
> Cancer, if the big breakthroughs happening now prove themselves
> Infectious diseases except retroviruses
> Genetic diseases
> Immune disorders
> Rare disorders and disorders of unknown cause (including Chronic Fatigue
> Syndrome)

I have my own layman's opinions and hopes about these, and think that cancer will, indeed, prove more tractable than many now expect -- I'm still very hopeful that the research spurred by last year's publication of mouse research with angiostatin and endostatin has generally opened up a whole new avenue focusing on neovascularization. This will, hopefully, prove to be a stop-gap, pending more fundamental understanding and manipulation of fundamental genetics.

In the meantime, if you're interested in the biotech frontier of transhumanism, you should make plans to attend ExI's 4th conference, August 7-8 in Berkeley:

Biotech Futures: Challenges of Life Extension and Genetic Engineering

                 http://www.extropy.org/ex4/e4main.htm

     Greg Burch     <GBurch1@aol.com>----<gburch@lockeliddell.com>
     Attorney  :::  Vice President, Extropy Institute  :::  Wilderness Guide
      http://users.aol.com/gburch1   -or-   http://members.aol.com/gburch1
                         "Civilization is protest against nature; 
                  progress requires us to take control of evolution."
                                      -- Thomas Huxley