Modified pig parts to help llate cancer patients

[Geek-9pm]

Modified pig organs could help late-stage cancer patients
'Humanized' porcine parts would reduce organ transplant waiting lists
Thomson Reuters Posted: May 06, 2014 8:30 AM ET Last Updated: May 06, 2014 8:30 AM ET

How is this related to computers? It takes a lot  of com computational power to work the DNA stuff.  **

Genome pioneer J. Craig Venter is teaming up with a unit of United Therapeutics Corp to develop pig lungs that have been genetically altered to be compatible with humans, a feat that, if successful, could address the urgent need for transplant organs for people with end-stage lung disease...

More details...

** Historical note:

...
Celera's Approach
Craig Venter adopted whole genome shotgunning. In this method, DNA is cloned several times and then shredded into 60 million bits, each 2,000 to 10,000 letters long. Each fragment is decoded by machines, which then send the results to Celera's massive computers. Now comes the difficult, controversial step: The computers attempt to reassemble the miniscule fragments back into the 23 pairs of human chromosomes. Whole genome shotgunning is far faster than more traditional approaches, but critics charge that reassembly results in incomplete, inaccurate results (Venter admits some flaws but says they can be rectified and that HGP's method also yields holes.). Until 1995, shotgunning had been used only to sequence small parts of a genome. Then, along with Nobel winner Hamilton Smith, who had the idea, Venter tried the method on an entire genome. Together, they determined the entire genome of the bacteria that causes ear infections and meningitis. Beginning sequencing in September 1999, Celera massed over 20,000 CPU hours involving 500 million trillion base to base comparisons, and managed more than 80 terabytes of data. Just the algorithms and data for sequence and assembly of the 3.12 billion letter of the genetic code required 64 gigabytes of shared memory.  ...
http://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/courses/soco/projects/computers-and-the-hgp/seq.html

[DaveLembke]

One thing that is more IT Medical related that I thought was cool was the printer that prints ( sprays ) cells onto sterile surface of some sort to grow skin cells etc. This was a few years ago and I havent followed up with it, but it was before the 3D printers came out. Now with 3D printers. It makes one wonder if they will be able to create a nose or an ear etc.

Just had a flash back from the movie Sleeper, with the Presidents Nose, with Woody Allen, where they want to reconstruct the president from just the DNA of the nose.  Haven't seen that movie in over 30 years..LOL