Why The War on Drugs Is a Huge Failure

Everything We Think We Know About Addiction Is Wrong

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao8L-0nSYzg


Ovo je odličan video sa Youtube kanala: In a Nutshell – Kurzgesag

This is an excellent video from Youtube channel: In a Nutshell – Kurzgesag

GMO panika (genetski modifikovani organizmi) / GMO panics (Genetically Modified Organisms)

Da bi znali koliko je GMO opasan treba razumjeti što je GMO. Prema mnogim napisanim komentarima po internetu jasno se vidi da ljudi jako ali jako malo znaju o tome.

To know to what level GMO products are hazardous, we need first to know what are GMOs. Looking through peoples comments on social networks I can say that general population knows very little about it.

Na primjer Monsantovi Roundap rezistentni usjevi nisu opasni sami po sebi. Genetski kod koji je njima dodat a čini ih izdržljivim prilikom Roundap djelovanja nije opasan opasno je nešto drugo što je nevezano za genetski inžinjering. Naime ratari često pretjeruju prilikom upotrebe Roundap herbicida upotrebljavajući mnogo veću dozu herbicida od dozvoljne jer znaju da će usjevi izdržati djelovanje što dovodi do toga da usjevi postaju toksični tim otrovom. Roundap u većim dozama je opasan otrov i prema nekim preliminarnim istraživanjima možda i kancerogen.

For example Monsanto Roundup resistant crops are not dangerous by them selves. Genetic variation in DNA which make those crops resistant to Roundup herbicide is not dangerous, it is just a DNA variation. The danger comes from the fact that farmers use Roundup herbicide in excess, outside recommended dosage making crops laced with this chemical to a dangerous level. Roundup is poisonous in large dosages as any other chemical and it might be a carcinogen as some studies suggest.

Zato se u zemljama EU zabranjuje upotreba Roundap herbicida a ne upotreba Roundap GMO usjeva.

Because of this Roundup herbicide is increasingly outlawed in EU countries but not GMO crops resistant to this pesticide.

Genetski kod (DNA) nije otrovan i bilo kakva promjena u njemu, prirodna ili vještačka neće utjecati na ljude, čak što više DNA je prirodni i važan dio hrane koju jedemo.

Genetic code (DNA) is not poisonous (it is a natural part of our diet) and any change in it, natural or not will not affect humans eating it.  

Ovo je primjer dobro zamišljenog GMO proizvoda, riža koja posjeduje gen koji proizvodi vitamin A (tvz zlatna riža), GMO koji pomaže u mnogim krajevima svjeta da se smanji manjak tog vitamina koji može dovesti do sljepila. 

This is an example of well thought out GMO produce, rice which have added gene for vitamin A to its DNA (Golden Rice) is a GMO crop which can be used in vitamin A deficient parts of the world to prevent serious health risks to the population like blindness for example which is one of symptoms of vitamin A deficiency.

Genetski modificirana hrana nije ništa drugačija od vještački selektiranih usjeva, samo se radi o preciznijoj i bržoj modifikaciji genetskog koda nego što se postiže vještačkom selekcijom.

Genetically modified foods are not much different from artificially selected crops it is just a faster and more efficient method to alter crops to our advantage as artificial selection is a lengthily and slow process (which can take hundred of years sometimes).

Sve ovisi koji se proizvod želi dobiti.

It is all about what we want to get.

Mi svaki dan unosimo veliku količinu DNA kroz našu hranu iz raznih izvora (mesa, biljaka itd). Svaka količina te hrane posjeduje gomilu genetskih mutacija koje nastaju prirodno, a GMO je tek minimalna količina promjena kada se sagleda cjelokupna količina DNK kojeg pojedemo dnevno i koji je prirodno mutiran. Genetski materijal u našoj hrani nije otrovan jer da jeste ljudi nebi mogli ništa jesti.

Every day we eat a considerable amount of DNA from diferent sources (meat and vegetables for example). All this food contains trillions of different mutations most of which are naturally occurring and GMO mutations are only a small fraction of all those. Genetic material in our food is not poisonous, if it was we couldn't eat anything.

U ovom videu se može vidjeti koliko DNA molekule ima u recimo jagodama (i usput kako možete sami početi sa genetskim inžinjeringom u vašoj kuhinji).

In this video you can see how much DNA you can find in a batch of strawberry's (and interestingly it shows also how to start your own genetic lab in your kitchen).

Mutacije unutar DNK ne mjenjaju značajnije njegovu hemijsku strukturu jer se radi o prirodnom polimeru (onaj ko se razumije u organsku hemiju zna od čega ovisi hemijska aktivnost polimera za ostale neka potraže na netu nešto stručniju literaturu).

Mutations inside DNA do not alter its chemical makeup in a drastic manner (changing its chemical reactivity) because DNA is a natural polymer. 

Onda u čemu je problem?

What is the problem than?

U stvari realna opasnost od GMO proizvoda je više suptilna nego direktna i odnosi se na ekonomiju, neetički pristup genetskim modifikacijama, određena opasnost po ekologiju i potencijal da se GMO koriste u ratne svrhe.

Well, the danger from GMO crops comes from a different source. it is all about economy, ethics,  environmental issues and very high potential of weaponizing this technology.

Patentiranje prirodno nastalih gena je u ovom slučaju je primjer neetičkog ponašanja gdje jedna kompanija (na primjer Monsanto) indentificira recimo gen za proizvodnju nekog vitamina te patentira taj gen te ga niko drugi ne može više koristiti bez da plaća autorske naknade toj kompaniji iako je taj gen nastao prirodno a nije stvoren u labaratoriji.

Example of unethical approach to GMO creation is patent practice where some corporations (Monsanto for example) file patent for discovered usefully genes (a vitamin generating genes for example) which have evolved naturally in some living spaces of animal or plant. That means that this gene can not be used by other parties without paying royalties. 

Otprilike to je slično kao kada bi neki muzičar stavio autorska prava na pjev ptica.

It is like if some musician would copyright a bird song.

Primjer upotrebe GMO kao oružja je posebno opasna mana ove tehnologije. GMO je relativno jednostavna tehnologija i samo prosječno opremljena labaratorija može izvoditi genetski inžinjering. Ovo znači da skoro svako sa malo znanja može proizvoditi GMO, to znači da teroristi ili neki prosječni luđak sa malo više specifičnog znanja, može teoretski proizvesti ubitačni GMO, na primjer GMO bolest, otrovni usjev ili neko drugo biološko oružje poput štetočina izdržljivih na insekticide.

Using GMO as a weapon is serious threat. GMO technology is relatively simple, any average equipped lab can preform genetic engineering. That means that any terror organisation or an average lunatic with a bit of knowledge can theoretically create and disseminate dangerous GMOs. Example are poisonous foods, GMO diseases or pests resistant to pesticides.

Uvođenje GMO usjeva može i hoće poremetiti ekološki poredak područja u kome je zasađen ukrštanjem sa prirodno evoluiranim vrstama, narušavajući prirodnu ravnotežu područja. Ovo može izazvati evolutivnu trku između različitih vrsta i izumiranje organizama koji ne mogu da sustignu GMO organizme i njihove potomke. Međutim ovo se događa prirodno i stalno i bez uticaja ljudi, takva je priroda evolucije. Pitanje je više etičke prirode, odnosno da li mi (ljudi) imamo pravo uticati u tolikoj mjeri na prirodan poredak.

Inserting GMO crops in an uncontrolled environment can and probably will disrupt ecological balance of that environment. GMO crops will interact and crossbreed with naturally evolved organisms disrupting the ecological balance and forcing evolutionary rebalance of the region, possibly forcing local extinction events of organisms which can not compete with GMO and its descendants. Keep in mind that this is not unheard off in nature, it happens all the time naturally as one spices takes over from another. This is more an ethical issue than a direct danger: Do we have (the people) the right to interfere with nature in such invasive way?

Ekonomske posljedice GMO tehnologije su dosta kompleksne ali se svode na to da firme koje se bave sa tom tehnologijom kroz svoje patente i proizvode mogu i hoće pokušati uspostaviti monopol nad proizvodnjom hrane i drugih proizvoda. Kompanija koja drži u svojim rukama proizvodnju hrane i ljekova drži cjeli svjet za muda. Primjer je primjena terminator sjemena (sjeme koje se može posijati samo jednom i ne može se razmnožavati dalje) uz pomoć kojeg kompanije mogu prisiliti farmere na ovisnost o tom sjemenu kroz pravne ili čisto ekonomske pritiske. Farmer je prisiljen kupovati samo to sjeme (zbog ekoloških zakona, kroz vezajuće ugovore ili jednostavno jer to sjeme daje superijorniji proizvod) i na taj način kompanija dobija direktnu kontrolu nad proizvodnjom. Zanimljivo terminator sjeme je u stvari prvenstveno pokušaj da se rješi ekološki uticaj GMO na okoliš jer sprječava širenje GMO usjeva u okolinu zbog nesposobnosti tih GMO da se razmnožavaju.

Economy consequences of GMO are a bit complicated but it all boils down to an attempt of huge GMO companies to corner the production of food and other GMO products (like medicine) and assert a monopoly through means of laws, patenting, binding contracts and similar. Company who holds monopoly over production of food, holds entire World to his balls (it holds all of us hostage). The examples are terminator seeds (seeds which produce crops but ca not procreate further), the company, producer of those seeds can force farmers to use it through law or economy pressures. Farmer is compelled to use those seeds (because of some environmental laws, through binding contracts, or just the product delivered through those seeds is superior to any other) and thus through those seeds company gains direct control over production of the crop. Interestingly enough Terminator Seeds were developed not for the financial gain but to limit ecological impact of GMO because those GMOs wouldn't be able to spread outside designated areas and interact with wild environment disturbing the ecology.

Na kraju / At the end

GMO je jedan od najkorisnijih tehnoloških napredaka u modernoj povjesti, međutim izgleda kao da je to napredak ispred svog vremena i ljudsko društvo još ne zna kako se postaviti prema tome odgovorno jer ne postoje jasni pravni okviri koji reguliraju tu praksu i zloupotrebe su jako česte. Ne samo to, mediji vole napuhati problem i sijati paniku zarad gledanosti time samo nadodavajući na već postojeću paniku. Radi se o novoj tehnologiji koju većina ljudi ne razumije i strah od toga je razumljiv, pomalo liči na strah od neizmjenične struje koji je vladao u Americi tokom rata struja između Edisona i Tesle kada je Edison svjesno širio laži o opasnostima neizmjenične struje.

GMO is one of the biggest advancement in technology in recent years but it looks to me that it happen a bit before its time. Our society is not yet clear how to react to it responsibly. Clear legal boundaries still do not exist to regulate this emerging and important technology and abuse is rampant. Not only that, general population is very much misinformed with bombastic claims and wrong facts. Media as usual just fuels this mistrust with misinformation and fueling the panic all of it in an unethical attempt to boast its relevance and thus revenues. It is a new technology and suspicion of an average citizen is called for, it has some parallels with big fear from alternate current during electric current war between Tesla and Edison in the beginning of 20th century when Edison did spread lies about AC being dangerous. 

GMO je budućnost sa potencijalom da iskorjeni mnoge bolesti i eliminiše glad u svjetu ali izgleda da većina ljudi još nije spremna razumno prihvatiti tu tehnologiju. Mnogi je se boje iz neznanja, a mnogi vide samo dolare ispred oči i primjenjuju monopolističke i pravne začkoljice ne bi li se obogatili preko noći i ponašaju se neetički prema tehnologiji koja ima ogroman potencijal (bilo kudeći ili promovirajući je). Obadvije strane u argumentu se ponašaju neetički i protiv općeg interesa svih građana.

GMO has potential to revolutionize production of food to even eliminate hunger worldwide and wipe out many diseases which plague our society, but it looks like that many of us are not ready to accept this technology in reasonable way. A lot of us are afraid because we have wrong information's and many other only see potential dollar signs floating around ($$$$$$$$) and use all monopolistic and legal loopholes to achieve their goals. Both sides of argument (pro and counter) are behaving unethically and against public interest.

GMO je korisna i opasna tehnologija, poput nuklearne zavisno kako se koristi. Kao što se od uranijuma može napraviti korisni reaktor koji napaja čitavu državu energijom tako se može napraviti i razorna bomba koja može razoriti neku manju državu. Tako i GMO može nahraniti čitavo čovječanstvo da više nikad ne bude gladi i bjede isto tako u rukama luđaka, genetski modifikovana bolest može istrjebiti čovječanstvo.

GMO technology is dangerous as it is useful, like nuclear technology. We can use Uranium for example to build a reactor to give power to a small country or we can build a bomb and destroy that country. Similarly with GMO we can feed entire human population and send hunger in history books where it only belongs or we can make a GMO weapon and erase humanity from the face of the Earth.

U principu GMO je nuklearna tehnologija našeg vremena, u potpunosti neutralan napredak nauke i na kraju kao i uvjek sve ovisi samo o ljudima.

In a principle, GMO is nuclear technology of our time, it is neutral as any other scientific progress, in the end it all falls on us to decide what to do with it.

Ebola izvan Afrike / Ebola outside Afrika

Ono čega se WHO najviše bojao se upravo događa. Naime ebola je izašla iz Afrike i krenula u svijet. Na svu sreću svi slučajevi su na vrijeme locirani i stavljeni pod karantin i data im je lječnička pomoć. 

The worst WHO fears have come to pass. Ebola have stepped out of Africa via uncontrolled means. Fortunately all cases were located and isolated and under medical care. All people who came in contact with them have been quarantined.

Potvrđeni slučajevi / Confirmed cases

USA

Do sada su zabilježena dva slučaja Ebole, obadva u Dallasu, Teksas. Prvi slučaj je na žalost završio fatalno i radilo se o putniku iz Zapadne Afrike koji nije pokazivao znake bolesti tokom putovanja već se razbolio nekoliko dana po dolasku u USA. Sve osobe koje su došle u kontakt sa njim su stavljene pod karantin. Na žalost bolesnik je preminuo nekoliko dana poslje. Drugi slučaj je medicinski radnik koji je radio oko ovog bolesnika. Međutim važno je napomenuti da je on preliminarno testiran i taj test je bio pozitivan, kako napominju zvaničnici iz CDC, potrebno je ponoviti testove da bi se sa sigurnošću znalo. Osoba je takođe stavljena u karantin.

Up to now two cases of Ebola have been found in US. First case is a man whom traveled from West Africa to US for family visit. He wasn't sick during the travel but developed the illness after he arrived in US. Unfortunately he died few days later. All people who came in to contact with him have been quarantined. Second case is still unclear. A health worker working on this patient have been tested positive to virus. Still, this is a preliminary result and more testing is needed, in the mean time the person is under quarantine and observation.

Takođe u SAD zabilježeno je i nekoliko lažnih uzbuna. S druge strane SAD je postrožio svoje mjere na graničnim prelazima, pogotovu na aerodromima prema putnicima koji dolaze iz Afrike. Ispitivanja i mjerenje temperature su sada obavezni za te putnike.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/10/12/ebola/z3DybKoXBg0XjPO6m5yVgK/story.html

Also worth to note is that there were few false alarms around US which have been dismissed later. Also the US authorities have stepped up the border control especially on airports targeting mostly travelers from Africa. The temperature measurements and questioning are now part of the routine checking of those passengers.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/10/12/ebola/z3DybKoXBg0XjPO6m5yVgK/story.html

Španija / Spain

Medicinska sestra, koja je pomagala misionaru koji je obolio u Africi i prebačen u Španiju na liječenje i koji je na žalost preminuo, je takođe postala zaražena, prema njenim riječima svojom pogreškom tokom manipulacije zaraženom opremom. Njeno stanje se prema riječima tamošnjih dužnosnika popravlja. Takođe sve osobe koje su došle u kontakt sa njom su stavljene u karantin i prismotru. Jedina žrtva za sada u vezi sa ovom medicinskom sestrom je njen pas kojeg su vlasti eutanizirale na protest okolnih društava za zaštitu životinja. S druge strane eutanaziranje je možda bilo preuranjeno, vlasti su možda trebale zadržati ovog psa kao vrijedan izvor informacija o tome kako se Ebola ponaša kod drugih životinja pogotovu kućnih ljubimaca (psi i mačke), s obzirom da o tome vrlo malo znamo.

http://news.yahoo.com/first-outside-africa-nurse-spain-hospital-contracts-ebola-174043185.html

A nurse fell ill in Spain after she contracted the disease during her work caring for a missionary whom contracted Ebola in Africa during his work helping people there. The missionary unfortunately died in Spain after he was transferred from Africa for medical care. The nurse contracted the disease because she made an error during manipulation with infected equipment. All persons who came in contact with here were put under observation and quarantine. As Spanish official announced the nurses health is improving at the moment. Her dog on the other hand was euthanized by authorities under protest from many animal rights organisations (PETA and such). On the other hand this euthanization might be a mistake as we know very little about how this disease is spread among other animals, especially pets. This dog could have brought some knowledge about this.

http://news.yahoo.com/first-outside-africa-nurse-spain-hospital-contracts-ebola-174043185.html

Potvrđeni slučajevi koji su kontrolirano prebačeni iz Afrike u svoje matične zemlje zbog liječenja / Confirmed cases of Ebola outside Africa whom have been transported in their countries for medical attention under controlled environment. 

Nju Jork Times iznosi podatak da za sada takvih kontroliranih slučajeva ima 13 od kojih je dvoje umrlo, 6 ih je još pod medicinskom brigom a 6 ih se oporavilo. U ovo nisu uračunati gore pomenuti slučajevi.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/07/31/world/africa/ebola-virus-outbreak-qa.html?_r=0

New York Times gives this set of data for controlled cases of Ebola: total of 13 cases of transported infected, mostly medical workers from Africa, two of which died, 6 are still in treatment and 6 have recovered. In this numbers above, wild cases were not included.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/07/31/world/africa/ebola-virus-outbreak-qa.html?_r=0

Lažne uzbune i pojačane mjere opreza / False alarms and increased control measures

Posljednjih dana je bilo dosta lažnih uzbuna po ovom pitanju pa ću samo pomenuti nama najbliže i one najveće u svjetu.

Makedonia: Jedna osoba, engleski državljanjin je naglo oboljela u svojoj hotelskoj sobi, prebačen je u bolnicu gdje je preminuo od unutarnjeg krvarenja. Kasniji nalazi su potvrdili da osoba nije bolovala od ebole niti od drugih vrsta hemoralgičnih groznca.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ebola-briton-who-died-in-macedonia-did-not-have-deadly-virus-officials-say-9789075.html

Crna Gora: Dvije osobe, putnici iz Nigerije su zadržane na areodromu Podgorica u trajanju oko 1 sat (zbog ispitivanja ali na žalost sa malo uspijeha jer ispitivači nisu znali Engleski) i kasnije pušteni uz obavezne kontrole svaki dan dok su se nalazili u Crnoj Gori.

http://dailypost.ng/2014/09/21/ebola-two-nigerian-lecturers-recount-montenegro-airport-officials-quarantined-hour/

Hrvatska i Srbija: U obije države su pojačane mjere kontrole putnika koji dolaze iz zaraženih zona. U Hrvatskoj se trenutno nalazi 18 osoba pod medicinskom prismotrom koje su došle iz Nigerije i Liberije. U Srbiji se nalazi trenutno oko 720 ljudi pod sličnom prismotrom.

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/croatia-monitors-africa-returnees-for-ebola
http://inserbia.info/today/2014/10/no-ebola-in-serbia-health-care-system-ready/

Albanija: Postoje neke vrlo nepotvrđene informacije da su u Albaniji zaustavili emigrante od kojih su neki pokazivali simptome bolesti. Međutim ove informacije su čini se samo izmišljotina. Sve ovo se navodno desilo još negdje u Avgustu.

Last days were full of false alarms in many places, because there are a lot of them i will just cover the closest ones to my country.

Macedonia: An Englishman died in a hospital after he fell ill in his hotel room. The death was caused from massive internal bleeding which made medical personal there suspect the Ebola virus. Fortunately later was confirmed that it was not a case.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ebola-briton-who-died-in-macedonia-did-not-have-deadly-virus-officials-say-9789075.html

Montenegro: Two persons traveling from Nigeria were stopped in Podgorica airport and placed in quarantine zone for one hour for questioning (which proved difficult as none of interrogators knew English). Later the travelers were set free under condition to report every day to the medical authorities during their stay in Montenegro.

http://dailypost.ng/2014/09/21/ebola-two-nigerian-lecturers-recount-montenegro-airport-officials-quarantined-hour/

Croatia and Serbia: Both countries have tighten their control over borders toward travelers from Africa. In Croatia 18 persons are under medical surveillance and in Serbia more than 720 all of which were travelers from Africa.

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/croatia-monitors-africa-returnees-for-ebola
http://inserbia.info/today/2014/10/no-ebola-in-serbia-health-care-system-ready/

Albania: A rumor surfaced that Albanian police have stopped 40 immigrants from Africa some of which showed symptoms of Ebola. Those rumors were almost certainly not true. Anyways this alleged event had taken place in August.

Nije za uzgred ponoviti! kako se prenosi Ebola. / Lets go over it again! How Ebola is transmitted.

Ebola se prenosi direktnim kontaktom sa inficiranim tjelesnim tečnostima (krv, mokraća, slina, plazma, mljeko, sperma, izmet, gnjoj) preko sluznica ili kroz otvorene povrede. Bolest ne može proći kroz kožu i mora doći u dodir sa sluznicama (kroz usta ili seksualnim kontaktom) ili ranicama. Takođe prenosi se i preko zaraženih predmeta poput nesteriliziranih medicinskih pomagala, ćebadi, odjeće i sličnog, opet samo kroz sluznice ili otvorene ranice. Postoji sumlja i da se može prenjeti preko aerosola sline kroz kihanje i kašljanje ali takvi slučajevi nikada nisu dokumentirani i najvjerovatnije su malo su vjerovatni.

Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with infected bodily fluids (blood, sperm, plasma, milk, urine, feces, pus, saliva) through mucous and open wounds. The virus can not pas through healthy skin and must came in contact with open wound and mucous (through mouth or during sexual contact). Also it can be transmitted through infected items such unclean medical equipment, blankets or clothing. There is a concern that it can be transmitted through aerosol of infected saliva but it was never observed and it is a very low chance if even possible.

Inkubacija traje do 22 dana ali se može javiti i poslje samo nekoliko dana od zaraze.

Incubation lasts up to 22 days but the onset could happen only few days after infection.

Bolesnik je zarazan tek kada se bolest pojavi simptomima, dok je bolest u inkubaciji bolesnik nije zarazan, barem ne u normalnim uslovima življenja i kontakata. Leš umrle osobe od ove bolesti je jako zarazan i veoma opasan za manipuliranje. Osoba koja je preležala bolest nije zarazna u normalnim uslovima življenja i kontakata, međutim virus se može zadržati u spermi muškarca više mjeseci tako da se preporučuje seksualna apstinencija u trajanju od bar 90 dana uz obavezne kontrole da bi se odredila preostala količina virusa do potpunog nestanka istog.

The patient is contagious only during symptoms phase, during the illness onset and duration. During the incubation patient is not contagious during normal circumstances of life and contacts. The corpse of a person whom died from this illness is highly contagious and very dangerous and should be handled with utmost care and preferably by expert professionals. The person whom survived the illness and does not present any symptoms any more is not contagious under normal circumstances of life. But it was found that the virus can be present in sperm of male survivors for months. It is advised to restrain from sexual contacts for at least 90 days after the infection end, and to control the level of virus via medical exams until person is declared virus free.

Osoba koja je preležala Ebolu je imuna iako se ne zna koliko ta imunost traje. Do sada nisu zabilježeni slučajevi da je preležala osoba bila ponovo zaražena.

Person whom survived the outbreak is immune but it is unknown for how long. Up untill now there were no reported cases of person getting reinfected with the disease.

Prevencija / Prevention

Održavati ličnu higijenu na visokom nivou, obavezno pranje ruku i cijelog tijela ukoliko se dođe u kontakt sa oboljelom osobom, svaki put kad do toga dođe. Pregledati svoje tijelo dali postoje otvorene ranice ili oštećenja i propisno ih dezinficirati i zaštititi hanzaplastom ili nekim drugim nepropusnim materijalom. Održavati čistoću u kući i na radnom mjestu upotrebom dezinficirajućih sredstava poput tečnosti za pranje prozora, varikinom i slično. Ovo je pogotovu važno ukoliko se došlo u kontakt sa zaraženom osobom i tada je dezinfekcija obavezna. 

Maintaining personal hygiene all the time, washing hands and whole body especially if you come in contact with infected person. Check your body for any open wounds or damage and disinfect those places on skin and cover them with bandaid or some other waterproof aid. Maintain cleanliness in the household and in work place using disinfectant liquids and detergents.   

Ukoliko se radi oko osobe koja je zaražena (pomaganje ili asistencija u lječenju bolesnika), a nema se propisna hazmat oprema, propisno zaštititi usta i disajne puteve maskom, oči nekim zaštitnim plastičnim radnim naočarima, upotrebljavati gumene rukavice i obući dugi vodonepropusni mantil čiji su otvori zatvoreni nekim nepropusnim selotejpom, Odjeću i posteljinu za koju se sumlja da je zaražena treba spaliti, naravno oprezno da se ne bi izazvao požar.

In case you need to take care of unfortunate victim of infection and you don't have appropriate hazmat suit, use any means to protect your mouth and nose (using makeshift mask soaked in disinfectant), protect hands with rubber gloves, protect eyes with protective eye-gear and ware a long raincoat fastened with belt and sealed off with adhesive tape. All clothing and bedding suspected to be infected just burn in controlled manner to avoid uncontrolled fire.

Vakcine i lijek / Vaccines and cure

Trenutno ne postoji lijek protiv ove bolesti, međutim postoji nekoliko modela liječenja koji daju rezultate koji obećavaju i koji obuhvataju neke novo razvijene antiviralne ljekove i simptomatsku medicinu.

At the moment there is no cure for this illness. Some promising treatments exist involving newly developed antiviral drugs and via symptomatic medicine, but all of those are highly experimental.

Vakcina se ubrzano razvija i već su počeli testovi na ljudima u pogođenim djelovima svijeta. Međutim očekuje se masovna primjena iste tek za oko 6 mjeseci kada testiranje na ljudima donese rezultate i ukoliko se pokaže efikasnom.

Vaccine is under fast development and already is been tested in the field in affected areas of the World. In any case the vaccine should be available for mass production in about 6 months if those tests in field come back positive.

Linkovi / Links

http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/en/

http://www.theverge.com/2014/10/11/6962039/ebola-vaccine-is-now-being-tested-in-west-africa

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ebola-vaccine-being-tested-in-rapid-fashion-say-researchers/

http://www.english.rfi.fr/africa/20141011-suspected-french-ebola-case-tests-negative-minister

http://news.yahoo.com/first-outside-africa-nurse-spain-hospital-contracts-ebola-174043185.html

Opasne biljke u našim vrtovima 2 / Dangerous plants in our gardens 2nd

Oleandra / Oleander / Nerium

Oleandar je zimzeleni drvenasti grm, velikih cvijetova raspoređenih u razuđene cvasti, listovi su duguljasti i kožasti sa tvrdom kutikulom. Izuzetno otporna biljka koja se odvajkada sadi zbog ljepote svojih cvjetova. Cvjetovi su veliki sa pet latica i dolaze u skoro svim bojama, šarama i oblicima pošto je ova biljka godinama uzgajana kao ukrasna i stvoreno je more različitih sorti. Najčešće boje su ružičasta, bjela, narandžasta, ljubičasta, žuta, crvena i jako rijetko plava. Postoje i višebojne sorte kao i tip uzgajanja gdje se stvaraju grmovi koji imaju više boja na jednom deblu kroz kalemljenje. Biljka se veoma jednostavno razmnožava običnim reznicama i izuzetno se lako kalemi sa sorte na sortu.

Oleander is a evergreen shrub or small tree with long, narrow and leathery leafs. The flowers are big, lush, bright colored, which grow in big lose blossoms. it is robust plant growing in sunny and dry places. Thanks to artificial selection the flowers come in many sizes and colors: white, pink, purple, red and even rarely blue. Multicolored varieties exist also and even multicolored shrubs made by grafting different varieties on same trunk. The plant can be easily reproduced using just cuttings in soil.

Porijeklo biljke je nepoznato jer se uzgaja od davnina kao ukrasna biljka pa se milenijumima proširila svugdje po Evroaziji. Prema nekim arheološkim nalazima smatra se da je biljka potekla negdje iz Sjeverozapadne Afrike, vjerovatno iz Maroka. Sama biljka voli suha i sunčana mjesta ali mjesta na kojima je ipak dostupna određena količina vlage tako da ju je dosta rijetko naći u samim pustinjama iako i tamo relativno dobro uspijeva. Trenutno najviše je ima oko Mediterana, Bliski Istok, Indija a od nedavno izuzetno je popularna i u novom svjetu Sjeverna i Južna Amerika i Australija.

The native region of plant is unknown as it is used for millenia as ornamental plant and have spread all over the world. It is theorized that the original homeland of this plant is Northwest Africa, mainly Morocco but now it can be find wild in many areas in the world, mostly around Mediterranean, Middle East, India and from recently in the new world, North and South America and Australia. The plant likes sunny places and can thrive in dry areas even deserts but there is found sporadically.

Otrovnost / Poisons

Cjela biljka je izuzetno otrovna a najveći dio otrovnosti potiče od oleandrina jedinjenja iz grupe kardioglukozida. Simptomi trovanja su mučnina i povraćanje, proliv, excesivno slinenje ili balenje, srčana aritmija i stomačni bolovi.

The entire plant is highly poisonous and most of its toxicity comes from oleandrin a cardiac glycoside. The symptoms are nausea, excessive salivating, heart problems, vomiting, stomach ache and diarrhea. 

Međutim i pored svoje otrovnosti biljka je relativno bezopasna ako se sa njom rukuje oprezno jer toksin utiče na tijelo samo ako je unesen direktno oralno ili intravenski. Sama aktivna supstanca oleandrin je relativno stabilno jedinjenje koje je u čistom stanju čvrsti kristal koji se topi tek na 250 stepeni celzijusa i ne absorbira se kroz kožu tako da ne postoji opasnost od trovanja prilikom direktnog manipuliranja (međutim savijet je oprati ruke poslje rada sa biljkom).

But contrary to the high toxicity of oleandrine the plant it self pose a little threat if it is handled with care. The poison is toxic only if ingested or given intravenously, can not affect a person through skin and it is difficult to become airborne ans the compound is a solid with melting point over 250 degree Celsius (482 F). Still it is highly advisable to wash hands after manipulating the plant.

Oleandrin (kao dio ekstrakta biljke) se uglavnom koristi u narodnoj medicini kod mnogih problema iako je njegova primjena izuzetno opsna. Postoje neke naznake da bi ovo jedinjenje moglo naći primjenu u standardnoj medicini, kod nekih srčanih problema a postoje i naznake da ima i dejstvuje protiv raka. Ova potonja su zanimljiva jer izgleda da ovo jedinjenje povećava senzitivnost tumora na radioterapiju, osnosno da zračenje bolje djeluje na tumorske ćelike pod dejstvom ovog jedinjenja. Važno je za napomenuti da su istraživanja u veoma ranoj fazi, direktno na ćelijama tumora u petrijevim šoljama. Ovo znači da olendrin još nije primjenjen ni na životinjama a ispitivanja na ljudima su još godinama daleko. Postoji opasnost da oleandrin može izazvati i radiosenzitivnost i na zdravim ćelijama što bi ga odmah eliminisalo kao potencijalni lijek, da ne govorimo o njegovoj normalnoj toksičnosti.

Oleandrine is mainly used in folk medicine (as extract or tincture) but it is dangerous practice which can result in adverse effects. In standard medicine olenadrine is tested for potential uses in some heart conditions and as anti-cancer drug. As anti-cancer drug it shows an interesting property as it makes cancerous cells susceptible to radiation making the radiation therapy more effective. But it us important to note that those results are highly preliminary not evolved out from petri-dish experiments with cancerous tissue. The experiments on animals did not yet began and human testings are years away. The problem is that oleandtine is highly toxic and there is a high probability that same radio sensitivity could affect healthy cells.

Zanimljivosti vezane za oleandar / Interesting facts about Oleander

Ekstrakt oleandra se od davnina koristi kao otrov izbora kod namijernih trovanja poput ubistava ili samoubistava. Zanimljivo je da je ekstrakt oleandra otrov izbora u pokušajima samoubistava na Šri Lanci, međutim samo 10% takvih pokušaja završava smrću.

Extract of oleander was used through history as a poison of choice as murder weapon or suicide drug. Interesting in Sri Lanka it is most used suicide poison but with low success rate (around 10% of attempts finish fatally)

Oleandar je izuzetno opasnan otrov za neke vrste životinja, pogotovu pse i mačke ali i stoku pogotovu konje koji vole da jedu izboje oleandra koji sadrže dosta šećera. Znimljivo je i to da nije previše otrovan za ptice i glodare (miševe i štakore). Ovo je zanimljivo s toga što se kroz vjekove često koristio kao otrov za miševe ali iz ovoga se vidi da ta primjena vjerovatno nije imala većeg efekta.

Oleander is also dangerous to some animals, especially cats and dogs but also for livestock like cows and horses. Horses are especially in danger due theirs sensitivity to oleandrine as they love to eat sweet young shoots of the plant. Interestingly enough the poison is not that effective on birds and rodents (like mice or rats). Oleander extract was used for centuries as rat poison but as research suggest, probably without much success.

Urbana legenda / Urban Legend.

Na mnogim mjestima u svjetu postoji priča o tome kako su kamperi otrovali sami sebe jedući hranu koju su ispekli ili roštiljali na drvetu dobivenom sa oleandra. Na žalost nema načina da se ove priče istraže na bilo koji način zbog sporadične pojave i manjka dokaza. Moj savjet je da kamperi ne koriste oleandar kao gorivo za roštilj, iako ne postoje dokazi da je ovo tačno bolje biti oprezan.

There is a urban legend going around about campers get poisoned with food cooked on fire burning on oleander sticks. Unfortunately there are no documented occurrences of this or any investigation which could confirm it. Anyways I advice against using oleander sticks as fuel for fire, as people say "better to worry than to be sorry".

Na kraju / Last thoughts about this

Ova biljka pored svoje toksičnosti nije previše opasna za rukovanje i ne predstavlja realnu opasnost. Ukoliko se rukuje sa njom oprezno, operu ruke poslje rada sa njom, ne upotrebljava kao gorivo i ne dozvoli se životinjama da jedu njene izdanke, ne postoji nikakva realna opasnost od nje i sasvim je dobar dodatak bilo kojem cvjetnom vrtu.

This plant is not overly dangerous despite its high toxicity. Some precautions must be taken during handling the plant, wash your hands after tending the oleander, do not allow livestock to eat the plant, do not use oleander wood for fuel and you should be reasonably safe. There is no reason why you shouldn't use it as an additional decoration in your flowering gardens.

Opasne biljke u našim vrtovima 1 / Dangerous plants in our gardens 1st

Anđeoska Truba ili Đavoja Truba / Angel's trumpet or Brugmansia

Na našim prostorima od nedavno ova biljka postaje sve raširenija zbog ljepote i mirisa cvjetova, širokih listova koji stvaraju dobar hlad i zbog lakoće uzgajanja. Izuzetno je otporna biljka iako traži dosta sunca i vode da bi bila bujna. Takođe lako se i razmnožava prostim reznicama. Cvjeta kroz Avgust i Septembar, velike duguljaste cvjetove, bjele, žute ili ružičaste boje. 

From recently this plant has become very popular in our gardens. It has a lush foliage (for deep shade), remarkable big long flowers with strong but pleasant smell. It is very resistant but needs a lot of Sun and water to achieve full very lush vegetation. It is flowering during months of August and September.

Burgmansia u divljini
Burgmansia in wild

Ova biljka prirodno raste uglavnom u Južnoj Americi u tropskim oblastima, osobito gdje je vegetacija gusta ali se godinama odomaćila svugdje po svijetu, najčešće kao dekorativna biljka. Lokalno se koristi u narodnoj medicini kao sedativ i u religioznim ceremonijama zbog halucinogenih svojstava.

Natural habitat for this plant is in South America, in tropical regions like Brasil, Columbia or Venezuela but nowadays have spread all over the world as very popular ornamental plant. Locally is used in shaman or folk medicine as sedative and during some religious practices in local religions due its strong hallucinogenic properties. 

Nepoznato mnogima ovo je ujedno i jedna od najotrovnijih biljaka u našoj okolini. Biljka sadrži mnoge vrlo otrovne alkaloide, najviše u sjemenu i lišću. Na primjer Scopolamin ili hyoscyamine. Trovanje izaziva audiovizualne halucinacije koje su češto košmarne prirode, raširene zjenice, konfuziju, paralizu glatkih mišića (poput dijafragme, odnosno zaustavlja disanje), probleme sa srčanim mišićem poput aritmije proliv i smrt. Takođe izaziva i amneziju, otrovani se često ničega ne sjeća dok je bio pod dejstvom otrova ove biljke.

Mahuna
Pod

Sjemenke
Seeds

Many people do not know but this is one of the most poisonous plants round. It contains many highly toxic alkaloids like  Scopolamine or hyoscyamine especially in seeds and leafs. Symptoms of poisoning are severe and can lead to death, those symptoms include audio visual hallucinations usually nightmarish type, migraine, diarrhea, tachycardia, paralysis of smooth muscles like diaphragm (it stops breathing). Also it causes amnesia or blackout and affected person often do not remember anything from the time he or she was affected with those poisons.

Zanimljivost vezana za alkaloid skopolamin. / Some interesting facts about scopolamine

Skopolamin je jedan od najpoznatijih otrova u modernoj kulturi, često se pominje u filmovima i knjigama kriminalističkog ili špijunskog žanra kao serum istine. Malo poznato je da je stvarno korišten kontraobavještajnim akcijama, pogotovu tokom prve polovine 20 vijeka kao droga izbora za uspavljivanje žrtve, zbog osobine da se žrtva ničega ne sjeća, a rijeđe kao serum istine iako je ta primjena takođe zabilježena u mnogim kontraobavještajnim službama. Međutim danas se ova droga više nekoristi jer je previše opasna i trovanje veoma često završava fatalno što je kontraproduktivno u špijunaži.

Scopolamine is known as drug of choice in many movies, shows and books of crime and spy genre, specially by the name as truth serum. Little known is a fact that this drug was really used in counter intelligence and in real spying (first half of 20th century) due its effect to knock down the victim which subsequently do not remember the fact. There were some tries to use this drug as truth serum but that was sporadic and mostly unsuccessful. Afterwards the use of this drug was abandoned as it is very dangerous and often lethal.

Takođe ova droga se često koristi tokom kriminalnih radnji, pogotovu da bi se žrtva opljačkala, sipajući ovu drogu u piće ili na neki drugi način. Ovakve kriminalne radnje često završavaju smrtnim slučajem a ukoliko osoba preživi obično se ne sjeća kriminalnog čina. Postoje čak neprovjereni izvještaji da se ova droga koristi da bi se žrtva natijerala da sama počini neki zločin, poput ubistva upravo zbog efekta da se osoba ničega poslje ne sjeća. Međutim ovo zadnje je u domenu urbane legende.

It is known that this drug is used by criminals usually to spike a drink of a victim to rob them afterwards. Sometimes fatal this drug is a drug of choice for those felons because victim does not remember the fact afterwards. There is also an unconfirmed urban legend around that criminals use this drug to force somebody else to commit a crime (usually murder) and that the victim of this chemically induced mind-control does not remember anything. But this is unconfirmed by official sources and it is, as i said, in the domain of urban legend.

Zaključak / Conclusion

Da se opet vratim na ovu biljku, veoma je rizično držati ovu bilku u vrtu zbog mogućih neželjenih posljedica, ljudi bi trebali vagati moguću opasnost od slučajnog trovanja u odnosu na estetiku. Po meni bi uvijek trebali izabrati sigurnost. Zabilježeni su slučajevi trovanja samo udisanjem isparenja tokom vrućih ljetnjih dana ako se osoba nalazi blizu osobito bujne biljke. Takva trovanja su rijetko fatalna ali mogu izazvati dosta problema otrovanoj osobi jer se takva osoba iracionalno ponaša, može halucinirati ili se jednostavno onesvijestiti a u takvim uslovima povrede čak i ozbiljne su dosta česte.

To get back to this interesting plant, it is very risky to keep this plant for ornamental purposes, because there is always a risk of accidental poisoning. My opinion is that you should chose some other, less dangerous plant. There are known cases of poisoning just by inhaling poisonous fumes during hot Summer days if person happens to be to close to one of those lush plants. Those poisonings are rarely fatal but it can cause a mountain of problems to the victim due to irrational behavior, possible hallucinations or just plain fainting, all of which can cause injures.

Ovo je izuzetno lijepa ali i strahovito opasna biljka sa kojom se treba rukovati sa velikim oprezom.

This is a most beautiful but extremely dangerous plant and anybody who owns one should handle it with utmost care.

Eskalacija epidemije Ebole / Escalation of Ebola outbrake

Kuba / Cuba

Kuba šalje 165 medicinskih radnika (doktora i medicinskih sestara) u zapadnu Afriku da pomognu kontroli ove epidemije. Ovo je do sada najveći kontigent medicinskih radnika poslat od jedne države. Kuba je poznata po tome da ima jak obrazovni sistem za medicinsko osoblje i uvijek su bili u prvim linijama tokom velikih nestreća po svijetu, šaljući svoje doktore gdje god je to bilo potrebno.

Cuba sends 165 medical workers to help combat the Ebola outbreak. This is to date largest contingent of medical professionals sent by one Country. Cuba is known for theirs state of the art medical schools and for their commitment to send and help in all disaster areas around the world.

SAD / USA

Tokom konferencije za štampu Bjele Kuće, američki presjednik Barak Obama je najavio slanje 3000 pripadnika njihovih oružanih snaga u Liberiju na čelu sa general majorom Darryl A. Williams-om. Mandat će se sastojati u stvaranju i održavanju zračnog mosta za dopremanje materijala i osoblja, obezbjeđenju istog te pomaganju okolnom području u borbi protiv ove epidemije, gradnjom poljskih bolnica (planirano je oko 1000 kreveta za početak) opremljenih jedinicama za izolaciju bolesnika.

During press conference in White House, American president Barack Obama has announced sending 3000 members of armed forces in to Liberia to combat the outbreak of Ebola. Commanding officer of this contingent will be Major General Darryl A. Williams and the mandate will be establishing an securing a air bridge to bring medical, logistics and personnel help in affected areas. The plan initially is to build new field hospitals with adequate isolation units for patients and helping the local government with theirs expertise in organizing and logistics.

Trenutno stanje / Current condition

Prema riječima WHO funkcionera, stanje u zapadnoj Africi se otima kontroli zbog nedostatka materijala i stručnog osoblja. Ponovo šalju poruku svim svijetskim vladama da pomognu u borbi protiv ove bolesti. Traže se osoblje i medicinski materijal. Procijene govore o tome da bi do kraja godine broj bolesnika mogao narasti i do 20000.

As announced by WHO officials the conditions in West Africa are spinning out of control because of severe lack of materials and especially of medical personal. They are sending a message to all countries of the world for help to combat this outbreak. The estimates are projecting that disease will infect more than 20000 people till the end of the year.

Bionika u medicini, regenerativna medicina i biološka besmrtnost / Bionics in medicine, regenerative medicine and biological immortality

Bionička medicina / Bionics in medicine

Bionički pristup u medicini postoji oduvijek odnosno od vremena kada su ljudi počeli sa pokušajima da nadomijeste izgubljene udove izradom pasivnih proteza koje su makar izgledom imitirali izgubljeni dio tijela. Neka od tih pomagala mogu čak i nadomjestiti pojedine izgubljenje funkcije, poput hodanja u slučaju proteza za donje udove ili nekih kompleksnijih kuka koje mogu donekle zamijeniti izgubljene ruke ili šake.

Bionics approach to medicine exist from time of the first try to replace a lost limb with materials from environment. Those prosthesis were mostly passive and could just return some of the functions of lost limbs, walking or complex hooks to replace lost hands.

Međutim sve su to dosta bijedne imitacije originala koje iako predstavljaju veliko poboljšanje povrijeđenoj osobi, ipak su jedva bolji od štapa i kanapa (u mnogim slučajevima upravo se i samo o tome i radi).

But in most cases those were and are pathetic imitations of the original which are a substantial improvement to unfortunate human being but are in the bottom line just a bit better than a stick and a bit of rope (and in many cases are just that).

Ovako je bilo oduvijek, od izrade prve proteze prije nekoliko hiljada godina,  pa sve do par godina u nazad. Tek nedavno ljudi su uspijeli da neke druge tehnologije minijaturizuju dovoljno da ih mogu primjeniti u izradi puno savršenijih i kompleksnijih proteza. Servo električni motori, novi izdržljiviji materijali poput karbonskih vlakana, hidraulika, mijaturni čipovi za potrebe kompijutera, adaptivni software i što je najvažnije kompaktni izvor napajanja energijom u obliku litijum-ionskih baterija ili sličnog.

This was a reality for many thousand years, all back to few years ago when substantial advancement in technology took place. Very recently, humans have developed new methods of producing miniaturized but powerfully electrical motors, new hard materials like carbon fibers, miniaturized hydraulics, small and very powerful computer processors, advanced adaptive software to run on those, and most important, compact but powerful enough energy sources like Lithium-Ion batteries or similar.

Ovo je dovelo do revolucije u izradi takvih proteza koja se upravo sada događa. U ovom videu (koji je preuzet sa TED talks, posjetite njihov site krcat sličnih inspirativnih priča, link) predavanje drži jedan od pionira ove nove revolucije u izradi novih medicinskih proteza Hugh Herr.

This brought a revolution in manufacture and design of prosthesis which is happening just now. In this video (TED talks) the speech is held by Hugh Herr a pioneer in limb prosthesis design.

Tadi se o radikalno novom pristupu izrade ovih proteza koje obuhvataju opsežna mjerenja i proučavanje mehanike udova te komunikaciju između mišića i nervava i izradu prilagodljivog i dinamičkog softwera koji može upravljati ovom kompleksnom tehnologijom. Trenutno se bave izradom proteza koje mimikuju hod do u detalja do te mijere da omogućavaju ples, kako se vidi na kraju videa.

It is a radical new approach to tackle the problem of design and manufacture of those prosthesis which involves study of limb mechanics, neural communications and finding a way to connect neurons to artificial hardware and writing the complex software to control this advanced technology. At the moment they are able to produce enough advanced leg replacements which to allow people to actually dance, as seen in this video.

Najviše mi se dojmila njegova izjava da ljudi ne mogu biti invalidi, ono što nas čini invalidima je u stvari samo naša loša tehnologija.

From his speech the most compelling statement of him is that people are not broken it is our technology which is broken and inadequate.

S druge strane nisu samo Hugh Herr i njegov tim na granici razvoja ovih novih tehnologija. Postoje mnogi timovi širom svijeta koji se bave proučavanjem i izradom sličnih pomagala. Evo nekoliko fenomenalnih primjera:

On the other hand Hugh Herr and his team are not the only ones on forefront of development of this kind of technologies. Here are some more examples:

Bionička ruka kojom se upravlja direktno iz mozga

 Artificial hand controlled directly by brain.

Egzoskelet koji omogućava da se podižu veoma teški tereti i 

koji omogućava paraliziranim ljudina (od struka na dolje) da ponovo hodaju.

Exoskeleton which allows heaving up very heavy objects and allows paralyzed people (from waist down) to walk again 

Prvo bioničko oko za sljepe, trenutno sa tek 60 piksela ali koje će veoma brzo biti usavršeno

The first bionic eye for blind people, unfortunately with only 60 pixels but which will be improved in short time

Regenerativna medicina / Regenerative medicine

Međutim ambicije i tehnologija idu dalje. Sve ovo su samo prelazna riješenja (iako se može argumentovano govoriti i o tome da neki ljudi možda i žele u potpunosti zamijeniti djelove tijela mehaničkim konstruktima i postati kiborzi), medicina se razvija u mnogim pravcima a jedan od njih je i regeneracija izgubljenih udova ili šire, regenerativna medicina. Ova tehnologija (potpuna regeneracija) je ipak još uvijek negdje u budućnosti ali ne toliko daleko kao što se misli.

But ambition and technology goes even further. All those mechanical replacements are a stepping stone (although somebody can argue that some people would want to replace they original body parts with technology to achieve true cyborg status), medicine is developing in many directions, one of those is the regenerative medicine, the ability to grow back the once original body parts. Those technologies lie in close future and those videos show how far we got today.

Istraživanja idu dalje i kloniranje ljudskih organa nije daleko. Ljudi će jednostavno u budućnosti (možda čak za jedva 30ak godina) biti u stanju jednostavno da zamijene svoje organe novima koji su klonitani iz ćelija originalnog organa što će eliminirati potrebu da se ljudski organi presađuju sa drugih (često preminulih) osoba. Ovo će eliminirati neželjene efekte poput odbacivanja organa i mnogih emocionalnih drama koje se odvijaju u postojećem sistemu doniranja.

The research goes further in to area of transplantation and regrowth of diseased and damaged organs, cloning of those organs from stem cells recovered from original organ, thus preventing all those problems with immunity response. This will bring a new age in transplantation technology, avoiding all those dangers of rejection of donated organ and even eliminating the need for donation which now are the norm with all difficulty to get those and freedom from all the emotional problems connected tho those procedures.

Biološka besmrtnost / Biological immortality

Na kraju postoji i još nešto, mnogo radikalnija misao, vezano za naš sam pojam postojanja, nešto što uprvo definiše to postojanje. Radi se o smrti, odnosno kraju postojanja. Napretci u tehnologiji, medicini i biohemiji pomalo otkrivaju sve mehanizme koji nas čine konačnima. Upoznavamo mehanizme koji čine da naše ćelije na kraju prestaju da se dijele i odumiru, odnosno čine da starimo. Već uvelike se rade mnoga istraživanja u tom pravcu, razumijevaju mehanizmi takvih funkcija i upoznavaju tajne mnogih primitivnih organizama koji nemaju moć starenja već mogu da se regenerišu neograničeno.

In all of this there is something else, a more radical thought, connected to our ultimate faith of our existence. It is about the inevitable death of us, the end of our existence. Advances in technology, medicine, biochemistry give us insights in to mechanisms which limit our existence in to a set time frame. We are uncovering the secrets of mechanisms which ultimately kill our cells by stopping its reproduction eventually bringing the old age to all of us. We research to understand those mechanisms because we know that living creatures exist whom do not succumb to old age. We search for them, find them and uncover their immortality secrets.

Međutim potrebno je objasniti prvo što znači biološka besmrtnost. Biološka besmrtnost ne predstavlja pravu besmrtnost, to je samo termin koji označava osobu koja je ne može starati ali je dalje podložna bolestima i nesretnim slučajevima te svopstvenim odlukama da prekine svoju egzistenciju, međutim, teoretski u zaštićenom okruženju takva osoba bi mogla živjeti neograničeno.

It is important for me to explain what is Biological Immortality. Biological Immortality is not immortality in full sense like to be indestructible and live forever. Biologically immortal person would be still subject to fatal disease or accident or to choice to end its own existence, but theoretically a person confined to a safe and controlled environment could live indefinitely. 

Iako daleko u budućnosti, ipak (kako se vidi iz ovih videa) postoji šansa da ćemo kao ljudi uspijeti pobijediti i finalnu sudbinu svih nas, a to je da umremo od starosti. O poimu biološke besmrtnosti se već uvelike ozbiljno govori, proučavaju se moguće socijalne implikacije, mehanizmi postizanja takvog postojanja, struktura društva u kojemu ne postoji starost itd.

Biological Immortality for now stays a bit further in the future but as seen from those videos the chance exist for us to beat this ultimate fate. This term, Biological Immortality now is contemplated with all seriousness of a scientific mind. All implications of it are debated among many academics, the social and population implications, job and economical problems or advantages coming with this technology, etc.

Predikcija? / Predicrions?

Za 30 godina imati ćemo prve perfektne zamijenske udove koji podižu, trče, rade, vide i čuju bolje od originalnih bioloških.

- In 30 years we will have available perfect replacement hardware which will be better, faster, stronger, will see better, hear better than original body parts.

Za 50 godina biti će mo u stanju da kloniramo i regenerišemo sve dijelove tijela.

- In 50 years we will be able to clone and regenerate original biological body parts to replace damaged ones.

Za 60 godina roditi će se prvo biološki besmrtno dijete.

- In 60 years first biologically Immortal baby will be born.

Na kraju zanimljivo je da su stari Grci smatrali da je starost neizlječiva bolest. Moderna nauka je svojim proučavanjima dala odgovor da su bili u pravu. Osim možda ovog zadnjeg, odnosno neće biti neizlječiva još dugo.

On the end, just a thought. Old Greeks regarded the coming of old age as a incurable disease. Modern science has demonstrated that this is actually true. Well maybe not for a long, as soon this disease might be actually cured.