Steve Jobs had his DNA sequenced for $100K to fight cancer

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 53
    ikolikol Posts: 369member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dickprinter View Post


    Man, I don't think I'll have to read the book. What is this, CliffsnotesInsider?



    Where's the thread for " Steve Jobs told BHO " You're a one term president""- have we had that one yet?
  • Reply 22 of 53
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rbryanh View Post


    Despite having been professionally entangled with Apple's products since the company began, I know almost nothing about Steve Job's personal life. He wan't a nothing celebrity - famous for being famous - and however large his ego may have been, his vision was apparently larger.



    We have names for this - words like "integrity" and "taste" - but they're seldom used in our culture because what they represent doesn't make for a profitable exhibit in our media zoo. Nonetheless, some people are still more concerned with what they can do than who they are, even if we've lost the ability to recognize them.



    Unlike the vast majority of strangers whose names and faces are as ubiquitous as flatulence, Mr. Jobs was more concerned with his ideas than himself. I greatly respect and admire that and don't want to know how he lived or died, not least of all because the personal lives of human beings are so uniform that they can never be anything but cliché.



    "Tell-all" journalism is in bad taste and consuming it merely encourages more of the same, but the real reason to ignore it is that it never has anything at all to tell. Our births, our deaths, and much of the struggle that goes on in between are all the same.



    Is this a comment on the upcoming biography - which I would argue falls outside of your general complaint - or just a rant about 'tell all journalism'? I am not sure if you are attacking celebrities, b-celebs, tacky celeb journalism, or what. When you talk about terms that are 'seldom used in our culture' you are being way to general. There certainly is value in studying the personal traits of great people. How they lived and their personalities are often integral to their genius.
  • Reply 23 of 53
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by quaternio View Post


    This must have been a year or so ago. Sequencing DNA is becoming cheaper by a factor of 10 every year.



    The cost of sequencing has dropped exponentially for decades, but not by a factor of 10X each year. It's closer to 2X per year. That's faster than microprocessors have improved, but fortunately the human genome remains the same size.
  • Reply 24 of 53
    jd_in_sbjd_in_sb Posts: 1,600member
    I wonder if Steve would be still alive today if he had cancer surgery right away. From what I read on this site the cancer was just in his pancreas at the time of discovery in 2003 and had spread to other organs by time he had surgery 9 months later.
  • Reply 25 of 53
    diddydiddy Posts: 282member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jd_in_sb View Post


    I wonder if Steve would be still alive today if he had cancer surgery right away. From what I read on this site the cancer was just in his pancreas at the time of discovery in 2003 and had spread to other organs by time he had surgery 9 months later.



    Unfortunately without a time machine we cannot know for sure.
  • Reply 26 of 53
    I will be read the book the minute it comes out.
  • Reply 27 of 53
    newbeenewbee Posts: 2,055member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by s4mb4 View Post


    Heck, he bought a liver once too. Money talks...



    Your's just whispers, I guess, no?
  • Reply 28 of 53
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jd_in_sb View Post


    I wonder if Steve would be still alive today if he had cancer surgery right away. From what I read on this site the cancer was just in his pancreas at the time of discovery in 2003 and had spread to other organs by time he had surgery 9 months later.



    Some patients with pancreatic cancer that can be surgically removed are cured. However, in more than 80% of patients the tumor has already spread and cannot be completely removed at the time of diagnosis.



    Chemotherapy and radiation are often given after surgery to increase the cure rate (this is called adjuvant therapy). For pancreatic cancer that cannot be removed completely with surgery, or cancer that has spread beyond the pancreas, a cure is not possible and the average survival is usually less than 1 year. Such patients should consider enrolling in a clinical trial (a medical research study to determine the best treatment).



    Ninety-five percent of the people diagnosed with this cancer will not be alive 5 years later. Steve lived much longer than most do. I wish he was with us 30 more years.
  • Reply 29 of 53
    shompashompa Posts: 343member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jd_in_sb View Post


    I wonder if Steve would be still alive today if he had cancer surgery right away. From what I read on this site the cancer was just in his pancreas at the time of discovery in 2003 and had spread to other organs by time he had surgery 9 months later.



    Doctors have told that it probably would not have had been anything different.



    Even if Steve had the "mild" pancreatic cancer, only 20% survive the first 5 years. Steve held out over 7.



    I wonder if the limited time made him innovate/work harder?

    How many other persons with billions continue to work when they have limited time?

    Steve only took 1 dollar/year, so his motivation was only to make the world a better place.
  • Reply 30 of 53
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by s4mb4 View Post


    the title of this article should be "Steve Jobs had his DNA sequenced for $100k to fight HIS cancer. There was nothing philanthropic about this act. Heck, he bought a liver once too. Money talks...



    So you don't get that the sequencing - while it could arguably have been used to tailor a treatment for Jobs' cancer, in fact the sequencing of his cancer can be and will be used for others as well to treat cancer where the end is (was?) less imminent. Reading for content is an important skill - try it some time.
  • Reply 31 of 53
    newbeenewbee Posts: 2,055member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by paxman View Post


    So you disagree with Galbi, then, do you?



    Isn't that pretty much obvious?
  • Reply 32 of 53
    newbeenewbee Posts: 2,055member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rbryanh View Post


    I greatly respect and admire that and don't want to know how he lived or died, not least of all because the personal lives of human beings are so uniform that they can never be anything but cliché.



    "Tell-all" journalism is in bad taste and consuming it merely encourages more of the same, but the real reason to ignore it is that it never has anything at all to tell. Our births, our deaths, and much of the struggle that goes on in between are all the same.



    Yes, we are all born, we all live for a time and we all die ..... but it's the millions of details in our lives that make each of us unique. If you cannot see that ...... no sense ever reading a book, or seeing a movie or listening to a song ...... they all have a beginning ... a middle ... and an end. Therefore, according to your statement, they must all be the same. What a sad philosophy, imo.
  • Reply 33 of 53
    eehdeehd Posts: 137member
    It goes to show you, you can have enough money and wealth to make Salomon blush, but when it's your time, death doesn't discriminate.
  • Reply 34 of 53
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by eehd View Post


    It goes to show you, you can have enough money and wealth to make Salomon blush, but when it's your time, death doesn't discriminate.



    That's? not at all what you're to take away from this?
  • Reply 35 of 53
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Hey AI, if you really want to promote the book, keep taking small excerpts out of it.



    Don't keep it a secret.



    You guys are helping me create interest in a branch of literature I typically don't read.



    You guys are true Apple fans.



    Here here
  • Reply 36 of 53
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Simsonic View Post


    Some patients with pancreatic cancer that can be surgically removed are cured. However, in more than 80% of patients the tumor has already spread and cannot be completely removed at the time of diagnosis.



    Chemotherapy and radiation are often given after surgery to increase the cure rate (this is called adjuvant therapy). For pancreatic cancer that cannot be removed completely with surgery, or cancer that has spread beyond the pancreas, a cure is not possible and the average survival is usually less than 1 year. Such patients should consider enrolling in a clinical trial (a medical research study to determine the best treatment).



    Ninety-five percent of the people diagnosed with this cancer will not be alive 5 years later. Steve lived much longer than most do. I wish he was with us 30 more years.



    He didn't have pancreatic cancer, he had neuro-endocrine tumour that originated in the pancreas, a much slower growing beast that generally does not respond to chemo or radiation, but generally treated by surgery and/or anti-hormones (octreotides).
  • Reply 37 of 53
    xzuxzu Posts: 139member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by monstrosity View Post


    Clone it..



    Hahahaha, that would have biblical implications I think.
  • Reply 38 of 53
    We can rebuild him...we have the technology.
  • Reply 39 of 53
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Cpsro View Post


    The cost of sequencing has dropped exponentially for decades, but not by a factor of 10X each year. It's closer to 2X per year. That's faster than microprocessors have improved, but fortunately the human genome remains the same size.



    You should read up on the latest news. It is currently changing at a rate close to 10x a year; I can cite multiple sources.



    I now realize that you are thinking of the amount of base pairs that can be sequenced per unit of time; that has been doubling for a long time, yes. However, time does not directly correspond to cost.
  • Reply 40 of 53
    haggarhaggar Posts: 1,568member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rbryanh View Post


    "Tell-all" journalism is in bad taste and consuming it merely encourages more of the same, but the real reason to ignore it is that it never has anything at all to tell. Our births, our deaths, and much of the struggle that goes on in between are all the same.



    Steve authorized the biography. He even waived the right to read the book before it was published. Clearly he must have seen some value in it.
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