Michael Cook at Mercatornet takes note of and comments on a disturbing editorial in the June edition of Nature. But, as he notes, the position is one that simply reflects Nature’s long-held practice of excluding human embryos from the concept of “human dignity” . . . and when that becomes too difficult, they scrap “human dignity” altogether. Nice, huh?
Read all about it here: Dignified Arguments
Researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center have identified a group of cells that aid in the proliferation and expansion of blood-forming hematopoietic stem cells. Those would be osteoblasts, the cells responsible for bone formation. The finding was published in the May issue of the journal Blood and, by improving their understanding of such stem cells, scientists believe it could have an impact on future bone marrow and peripheral blood progenitor cell transplants. Read more.
Yet another researcher has come out admitting that research using human embryos isn’t likely to yield the dramatic cures that have been promised for the better part of the last 10 years. This time it’s embryologist James Thompson, who isolated the first ESCs. See my post The Real Future of Embryonic Stem Cell Research for more.
This is no surprise to us here at ASCA. For information on stem cells that are being used for transplants and treatments visit some of our archived posts as well as my ASC archives at Reflections of a Paralytic.
The female body is pretty amazing for a number of reasons, not the least of which is its ability to generate and sustain the life of another human being. Now it is helping advance the science of stem cell research. So far scientists have been able to find stem cells in placenta, menstrual blood and breast milk. We also would not have umbilical cord blood stem cells, which have been successful in treating many human patients, were it not for the female body. Now two Indian researchers have discovered the presence of adult stem cells in the entire female genital tract:
[Scientists Satish] Patki and [Ramesh] Bhonde, who heads the stem cell division at NCCS, told newspersons in Kolhapur on Tuesday that they have also demonstrated that stem cells could be obtained from the female genital tract by using non-surgical methods…
Under lab conditions, the stem cells obtained from the uterus were developed into cells of kidney, liver, fat, brain and beta cells of the pancreas — which produces insulin — and the beating cells of the heart.
According to the researchers, the application of this research includes curing degenerative diseases and studying the effects of drugs.
According to them, the treatment with stem cells can increase the embryo carrying capacity of the uterus, which is helpful in infertility diseases like repeated abortions, pregnancy-induced hypertension, and for in-vitro fertilisation.
At the UK National Stem Cell Network Annual Science Meeting atendees heard about the promise of adult stem cells. Yes, you heard that right, the promise of ASCs, not that embryonic stem cell hype (which I’m sure was also present at the meeting). From the story:
Professor Kielty’s team study stem cells that are found in human bone marrow called mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). MSCs have the ability to relocate and develop into several different types of cells and tissue and are very promising as a source of cells for transplant in tissue repair. As well as offering the potential for bespoke treatments derived from a person’s own cells, MSCs are unlikely to trigger a severe immune response, and may be suitable for “off-the-shelf” treatments for tissue repair. This research focuses on the details of a messaging system that leads to the development of blood vessels from MSCs in the body. This system is called ‘PDGF receptor signalling’…
Professor Kielty said: “What we have shown is that adult stem cells respond in particular ways to some of the chemical signals in the body. The next stage will be to understand how this messaging system regulates relocation of the MSCs and instructs them to become blood vessel cells. After that, we can look at applying our understanding to develop stem-cell derived therapies for tissue repair.”
Here again we see how modern stem cell science is debunking the theory that ASCs have little to no pluripotency. In fact, because of their maturity, it is easier for ASCs to conform to their surroundings. ESCs have generally proved to be too pluripotent, hence their tendency to form tumors.
Here are a few good ethical life science news stories for you:
Scientists say menstrual blood can repair hearts:
Scientists obtained menstrual blood from nine women and cultivated it for about a month, focusing on a kind of cell that can act like stem cells.
Some 20 percent of the cells began beating spontaneously about three days after being put together in vitro with cells from the hearts of rats. The cells from menstrual blood eventually formed sheet-like heart-muscle tissue.
The success rate is 100 times higher than the 0.2-0.3 percent for stem cells taken from human bone marrow, according to Shunichiro Miyoshi, a cardiologist at Keio University’s school of medicine, who is involved in the research.
Separate in-vivo experiments showed that the condition of rats who had suffered heart attacks improved after they received the cells derived from menstrual blood.
Miyoshi said women may eventually be able to use their own menstrual blood.
“There may be a system in the near future that allows women to use it for their own treatment,” Miyoshi told AFP on Thursday.
Gene therapy improves sight in near-blind patients
LOS ANGELES/LONDON (Reuters) - Gene therapy for a rare type of inherited blindness has improved the vision of four patients who tried it, boosting hopes for the troubled field of gene repair technology, scientists said on Sunday.
Two separate teams of doctors reported successes in using gene therapy to treat Leber congenital amaurosis, or LCA.
LCA damages light receptors in the retina. It usually begins affecting sight in early childhood and causes total blindness by the time a patient is 30. There is no treatment.
Both teams used a common cold virus to deliver a normal version of one damaged gene that causes the disease, called RPE65, directly into the eyes of patients.
Although both trials were only testing for safety, patients reported they could see a little better afterwards, the researchers told a meeting of eye specialists in Florida and also reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Stem cell hope for fixing injured knees (h/t: Vital Signs):
Up to 60 Victorians are to trial a simple injection scientists believe could replace drugs - and even surgery - in treating debilitating osteoarthritis.
It could also prolong the careers of athletes, including AFL players, regularly sidelined by common cartilage tears.
Melbourne-based biotechnology company Mesoblast recently completed successful animal trials of the hi-tech procedure and believe there is a “billion-dollar market” for their technique.
The Australian trials found the injection of adult stem cells - taken from human donors’ bone marrow, abdominal fat, hip, skin or teeth - protected damaged knee cartilage for up to nine months.
Professor Silviu Itescu, Mesoblast’s director and chief scientific adviser, said the injected stem cells bound themselves to the cartilage, halting its degeneration.
Heart Derived Stem Cells Develop Into Heart Muscle:
The stem cells are derived from material left over from open-heart operations. Researchers at UMC Utrecht used a simple method to isolate the stem cells from this material and reproduce them in the laboratory, which they then allowed to develop. The cells grew into fully developed heart muscle cells that contract rhythmically, respond to electrical activity, and react to adrenaline.
“We’ve got complete control of this process, and that’s unique,” says principal investigator Prof. Pieter Doevendans. “We’re able to make heart muscle cells in unprecedented quantities, and on top of it they’re all the same. This is good news in terms of treatment, as well as for scientific research and testing of potentially new drugs.”
Cell-based Therapy Shows Promise In Patients With Parkinson’s Disease:
A novel cell therapy using retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells attached to tiny gelatin bead microcarriers implanted in the brain can improve the symptoms of patients with moderate to advanced Parkinson’s disease (PD).
The pilot study* was initiated at Emory University Hospital and followed six patients with moderate to advanced PD to investigate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of the Spheramine implantation. The full patient group has been evaluated for four years, and several have been monitored for six years. Bakay and colleagues report long-term improvement or stabilization of symptoms, maintained for a minimum of two years after Spheramine implantation. They note no Spheramine-related serious adverse events were reported and that the most frequent adverse event was postsurgical headache, which spontaneously resolved within one to two weeks.
Is it just me, or is the hype surrounding embryonic stem cell research is just starting to sound more and more ridiculous and unnecessary? Clearly there are ethical alternatives to using human embryos for scientific research that are proving to be easier to work with and more effective in both animal and human studies.
I found some great videos highlighting those who have benefited from adult stem cells:
Here is Jacki Rabon, whose spinal cord injury improved after she was injected with stem cells from her own nose (from this study).
I love this woman who, after two successful ASC injections, had a t-shirt made that she wears out in public to let everyone know about the benefits of ASCs.
These videos are from the Encore Toast to Adult and Cord Blood Stem Cells last March, hosted by Do No Harm.
See more videos like this on the You Tube channels stemcellsthatwork and stemcellguy.
Recently the federal government dedicated $85 million for the creation of the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine (AFIRM) to fund a type of stem cell therapy for veterans injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. This therapy helps grow brand new bone:
Orthopaedic stem cell surgery has been practiced by only a handful of doctors nationwide. Proponents complain that medicine involving adult stem cells is underfunded because it is often confused with controversial embryonic stem cell research. But the stem cells Einhorn uses don’t come from embryos; they come from the patients themselves.
“His own live cells,” Einhorn said.
Einhorn extracts stem cells from the patient’s bone marrow, drawn from the pelvis. Some is used for what Einhorn calls “grout.”
“By mixing the bone marrow cells with protein, it gives me a kind of a grouting material that I can use to fill in the gaps,” he said.
Dr. George Muschler, who pioneered the surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, which is a grant recipient, said, “I think [the procedure] has applications to some challenges that might have previously cost patients their leg, because we didn’t have a way to heal their bone.”
Muschler has been monitoring patients in the past six years, and says he is convinced that the method results in the growth of strong, new permanent bone.
What great news not only for stem cell research, but for our men and women in combat who are coming home with some devastating injuries.
InsideCatholic.com has a review of Robert P. George’s new book - a must read for those of us who care about the most vulnerable.
This gorgeous baby boy was rescued from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina. It was a compelling story then, because at the time, Noah was a frozen embryo. Perhaps some were flabbergasted that rational people would risk their own lives to save a mere embryo. Yet Noah’s parents knew that Noah was no less their baby then, as an embryo, than they hoped he would one day be, held in their arms.
Noah turned 1 yr old in January!
CBN (Christian Broadcast News) just ran a great piece about Noah. They have interviewed Robert P. George, author, ethicist, and advisor for the President’s Council on Bioethics. They touch on stem cell research and the canonically controversial topic of embryo adoption. Read Survival Tale of an Embryo Called ‘Noah’.
Hat tip to Spirit Daily.
