This BBC article was brought to my attention a number of times within the past few days. Please feel free to visit the web page - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21653463
While I think this is an incredible achievement, and it makes my heart fill with joy to know that this is a possibility, (for this girl and for others)...it brings back to my mind thoughts I have had about death, how terrifying we think it is, and what extremes we go to to avoid it. To be clear - I completely understand the desire to save yourself or your loved ones given the opportunity.
Medicine and associated technologies have fascinated and inspired me for some time. I support medicinal advancements and feel terrible even raising questions, particularly when a cure for such a devastating disease such as HIV, incurable for years, is making advancements towards such a cure. A cure for this disease would save millions of lives, eliminate associated social stigma against infected individuals, and likely improve the lives of many individuals (particularly from particular "at-risk" groups). As the presence of illness is frequently a result of deeply engrained social structures, the cure for a disease such as HIV could contribute to equality across and within populations.
But, as we create more cures for all of the illnesses afflicting populations today (both infectious diseases in developing nations and chronic/degenerative diseases in developed nations), are we partially ignoring the causes of these illnesses in the first place? Death has always been part of the human experience - and (obviously) it always will be. Medicine, in some ways, regardless of the positive things it does for our world - can also be seen as an avoidance of death.
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