I guess of less widespread interest but more significance, NPR ran a story yesterday on the what appears to finally be some long-promised success with gene therapy interventions. Including treating some fatal conditions.

I keep having the feeling that we're on the cusp of some history making treatments and cures. It just seems like the dam is about to burst. Here's to hoping that's the case.

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

Yes, they've been promising that for a couple of decades and not delivering, but it does seem like we are finally getting there.

So many just truly nasty genetic diseases out there that can probably be "easily" fixed if you can edit the genome.

For our bald brethren, let's not start war on penisula before cure perfected.

Agree, as someone who is hair challenged and shaves the entire head a few times per week, I'd love to the opportunity to grow it back!

Whenever I get a wild hair up my a$$ and have my head shaved (in homage to my boot camp/special operations "technician" days in the military) my wife says I look like a prison escapee out to rob, kill and maim and she makes me grow it back to at least an inch or more. ;-)

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

The entire top of my head is a DMZ (De-Maned Zone).

I thought there were too many people on this planet.

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

LOL.. Funny story... My youngest (he's 10) recently said to my uncle.. why are you bald? You look funny. My uncle turned to him and said does your mom have brothers?.. yes.. are they bald?? yes... I'm sorry kid.. you'll understand some day.

Hahahahaha! That's great! :-)

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

The solution to that is having less kids, which is pretty much what most do (even most devout religious people where big families are emphasized) once it becomes apparent child mortality isn't what it use to be.

Right, so once we cure a bunch of deadly diseases and people are living much much longer we will probably have to force people to not have kids (because people are going to have kids).

And if people stop having kids and we’re all living to 140 years old whose going to take car of shit?

Just because your heart, lungs, intestines and brain are all still working your muscles and bones are going to be trashed (I know mine are).

We need a good plague.

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

My dad and brother were both bald before they were 20. This terrified me growing up. I remember being in high school, hoping I could at least make it to 30 before having to shave my head. Luckily, at 34, I still have a decent head of hair, although it is slowly retreating (or, rather, migrating to my back and the inside of my nose, somehow).

If there is a way to reverse MPB I'd use it.

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Long Chile was a silly place.

There aren't too many people.

I know.

But we keep being told there are (then we’re asked to donate money to cure AIDS and cancer).

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

Balding. Don't care. Head is buzzed and I look fine.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

As far as population, since we've more or less beat most of the infectious diseases that use to kill us off in droves before we were old enough to reproduce we know what happens. It's called the demographic transition. People stop having kids voluntarily. It's why in a lot places sans emigration the populations are shrinking.

Pretty much most of the advances in medicine now are about keeping people alive longer after they've reproduced already anyway and gene therapy isn't going to change that. Genetic diseases are just too rare to matter in terms of the overall population.

And I've got bad news for you, all those other organs are going to shit too, right along with your musculoskeletal system. Take care of yourself and you can probably make it into your 80s functioning pretty well, but by around age 90 or so almost every one starts a pretty precipitous slide into oblivion.

Until we figure out to halt the aging process, you don't need to worry about who's going to take care of you when you're 140.

I'll never forget the day I knew the baldness was taking over and it was time to let it go and give up the fight. I was 21 and we had a security monitor leading into the office at work that displayed the back of the head every time you walked in. It was truly one of those moments in life that felt like a kick in the stomach. I looked up as I was walking in and noticed a softball sized circle of nothingness on the back of my head. I was devastated, I had good hair too...I nutted up that week, bought clippers and worked my way from a # 3 guard, then #2, then #1. I was so afraid I would have an ugly head with lumps or wrinkles or some shit like that. After accessing the dome and saw it was good, I got the razor and cream and went all the way. Never looked back that was 20 years ago.

I would like the option to regrow if it was available but not sure I could have hair again, I never have to worry about a bad hair day, I have saved a ton on hair care products and hair cuts in the past 20 years.