Stem CellsStem Cells Archives
August 27, 2008
A Victory for Stem Cell Researchers
Controversy surrounding embryonic stem cells has consumed an elicit amount of time and unethical research in this area has been unabashedly promoted on the basis of hype and ill-formed promises. An amazing breakthrough involving adult stems cells ought to silence those in favor of harvesting cells from early humans:Scientists have...
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May 19, 2007
Adult stem cells and Spinal Cord Injuries
Following a head on collision, Jeni Rummelt was paralyzed from the waste down. After six years as a paraplegic, therapy with adult stem cells has apparently given her feeling in her lower extremities:The first step, a trip to Moscow, Russia. For a procedure not available in the u-s - adult...
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March 28, 2007
Adult Stem Cell Research to Benefit Diabetics
Researchers continue to make substantive progress toward the application of adult stem cells to diabetes treatment. Unlike embryonic stem cell research, the therapies are more than a conjecture - they are reported with concrete clinical evidence. In addition, adult stem cell applications do not involve the destruction of a human...
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March 27, 2007
Adult Stem Cells Treat Heart Disease
It is being hailed as a major medical breakthrough: cardiologists are using adult stem cells, not the controversial embryonic stem cells, to rejuvenate the hearts of patients who have suffered heart attacks or whose hearts are not working properly. - Voice of America The article above describes the case of...
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October 11, 2006
Will Missouri Make Human Cloning a Constitutional Right?
The Family Research Council blog notes that Missouri is on the verge of making human cloning a constitutional right and to giving biotech special interests a blank check to do it with taxpayer money. Although the proposed constitutional amendment bans cloning (on page 1), the fine print gives biotech firms...
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October 4, 2006
Adult Stem Cells Treat Autoimmune Disease
Adult stem cells have reportedly been used to treat autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, and scleroderma. According to the Journal of Rheumatology:During the past 10 yrs, over 700 patients suffering from severe autoimmune disease (AD) have received an autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplant as treatment of...
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July 18, 2006
U.S. Senate says Yes to ESC Research
The U.S. Senate voted today on a number of stem cell bills. Senate bill 3504, which bans fetal farming, the practice of harvesting body parts from human embryos, then performing experiments on them. Senate bill 2754, which allows for any stem cell research that does not destroy a human embryo,...
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February 17, 2006
Stem Cells, Questions and Language
Missouri’s cloning war came to the Capitol on Thursday when two Washington University scientists wrangled over research on early stem cells and the laboratory techniques used to grow them. The Kansas City Star reports the essense of their debate:The conclusion? It comes down to whether you view the cells created...
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January 6, 2006
Adult Stem Cells that Can Regenerate
Scientists have isolated stem cells form the breast tissue of mice that can regenerate an entire milk-producing mammary gland. The discovery is a landmark achievement for adult stem cell research because its the first time adult stem cells have been purified from an adult tissue other than bone marrow or...
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December 21, 2005
Faking the Data and Human Cloning
Life for cloning pioneer and embryonic stem cell researcher Hwang Woo-suk has been difficult at best following allegations that his ground-breaking paper on human cloning was fake. Science is now investing the accuracy of the data and conclusions Hwang published in their respected and peer reviewed journal. Two photographs of...
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December 15, 2005
Hypocrisy Over Stem Cells
Washington, D.C. - US Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist today called for the passage of the bi-partisan life-saving cord blood stem cell bill, (HR 2520) sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith. The House bill, Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005, already passed in May by an overwhelming bipartisan vote...
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September 28, 2005
Senate Passes Cord Blood Donation Bill
The State Senate unanimously passed legislation today that will facilitate the donation of newborn umbilical cord blood in Wisconsin. Assembly Bill 270, authored by Representative Steve Wieckert (R-Appleton) and Senator Joe Leibham (R-Sheboygan), now moves to the Governor’s desk for his expected signature. “We applaud the State Senate for passing...
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September 26, 2005
Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cells Treat Spinal Cord Injury
Korean scientists have used umbilical cord blood stem cells to restore feeling and mobility to a spinal cord injury patient[Cytotherapy, (2005) Vol 7. No. 4, 368-373]. According to Wesley Smith, the female patient lost use of her legs following an accident 19 years ago (Complete paraplegia of the 10th thoracic...
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September 20, 2005
Umbilical cord stem cells cure disease
Unlike embryonic stem cell research, the extraction of stem cells from blood and umbilical cords does not require the destruction of human life. Yet, most hospitals discard cord blood after a baby's birth, despite the fact that the blood contains stem cells that can be used in transplants for as...
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July 29, 2005
Frist 'Pulls a Kerry' by Supporting Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Despite being an ardent supporter of abortion and voting against a ban on partial-birth abortion, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) claimed to be pro-life during his 2004 presidential bid. On January 25, 2004 he told Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, "I'm against partial-birth abortion, as are many people." And, Kerry...
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Frist to Back Embryonic Stem Cell Research
JivinJ points out that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) is scheduled to announce his backing of a embryonic stem cell bill that would increase federal funding for ESC research. Remarkedly, Frist states, "I am pro-life... I believe human life begins at conception." Yet, he backs research that cannot be...
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July 28, 2005
Hospital Dedicated To Umbilical Cord Stem-Cell Treatment
SEOUL, South Korea, July 28, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The self-professed purpose of South Korea’s Histostem Corporation is music to the ears of pro-life advocates waging a difficult war against deadly embryonic stem-cell research. According to its website, Histostem “is pioneering cell-based therapy with stem cells, free of ethical problems.” Hoon...
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July 27, 2005
Scientists Grow New Brain Cells
As a first step toward the treatment of degenerative brain diseases such as MS, Alzheimers and Parkinson’s, a Swedish team has succeeded in growing brain cells from stem cells taken from adults. [more]....
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July 17, 2005
Stem Cell Hype and Michael J. Fox
Actor Michael J. Fox is pushing Congress hard to lift President Bush's restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. "Embryonic stem cell research holds enormous promise," said Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, in remarks prepared for a Capitol Hill news conference on Wednesday. "More federal funding and more lines are...
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July 12, 2005
Adult, or post-natal, stem cells have the same ability as embryonic stem cells to multiply
In a ground-breaking study, scientists at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh have discovered that adult, or post-natal, stem cells have the same ability as embryonic stem cells to multiply, a previously unknown characteristic indicating that post-natal stem cells may play an important therapeutic role....
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July 11, 2005
Embryonic Stem Cell Research - Clash of Worldviews
According to the LTI Blog the fundamental dispute over embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) is a worldview issue:One group thinks human beings have value simply because they are human while the other group thinks humans have value only because of some acquired (and accidental) property like self-awarness or sentience. ......
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Adult Bone Marrow Cells Transformed Into Muscle Cells
Japanese researchers have transformed an ordinary kind of bone marrow cells extracted from adults into muscle cells, a first step toward the treatment of degenerative conditions such as muscular dystrophy. more...
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Embryonic Stem Cell Hope Based on Distortions
Jean Swenson, a quadriplegic from a 1980 spinal cord injury, has been following and supporting spinal cord injury research for over 20 years. In a recent TownHall column she wrote that the public report on embryonic stem cell research is distorted and based upon fairy tales:As a quadriplegic who could...
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June 25, 2005
Embryonic Stem Cell Research - Unethical and Not Working
Scientists involved in embryonic stem cell research are now admitting that they have not achieved the advancements that were sold to the public. "Many of the technologies we hyped to the general public haven't worked yet," Celgene Corp. president Alan Lewis said Wednesday at a biotechnology trade show in Philadelphia....
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Adult Stem Cell Breakthroughs Attract Investors
June 24, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - While research lobbyists pressure governments for access to embryos, more work is being done obtaining stem cells from ethical sources proving that embryonic stem cells are a dead end. This has not been lost on private investors who are now pouring money into adult stem...
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June 24, 2005
Successful Adult Stem Cell Research and Applications Continue
While embryonic stem cell research efforts struggle both ethically and technically, successful adult stem cell research and applications are exploding. Consider the following recent reports:Study: Adult stem cells promising - Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh researchers announced Thursday they have discovered a population of stem cells isolated from mouse muscle with...
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June 14, 2005
The President's Inadequate Position on Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Joe Carter at the Evangelical Outpost has written an excellent response to President Bush's claim that the governmental involvement in embryonic stem cell research is limited to the issue of whether or not ESC research receives federal funding. Joe writes,While I have the utmost respect for Mr. Bush and appreciate...
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June 10, 2005
Scientists Boast of Stem Cell Lines Made from Home-grown Embryonic Children
The following article is from LifeSiteNews.com, a site that is well worth visiting regularly. Exploit suffering of Canadians with serious diseases to gain support for research with dismal chance of success TORONTO, June 9, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A team of scientists at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto has announced today...
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June 7, 2005
Company, Researchers Use Aborted Children to Treat Heart Disease
Medical companies, funded by financial opportunists, are using stem cells from aborted fetuses to treat heart disease according to a presentation at the Annual Meeting of the International Society of Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery. In a session titled "Late Breaking News", two investigators revealed that during the past 90 days...
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May 30, 2005
Adult Stem Cell Breakthrough Ignored by Media and Politicians
Although adult stem cell research continues to produce concrete therapeutic applications and has shown feasibility in the treatment of most major diseases, media attention has been dismal. Instead, overtly positive articles focus on embryonic stem cell research, which requires the destruction of a human life.
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May 25, 2005
Another Umbilical Cord Stem Cell Successful Application
Doctors have successfully treated babies with a usually fatal genetic disorder of the brain by using stem-cell transplants from umbilical-cord blood. The successes, reported Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine, offer hope for victims of a host of rare diseases brought on by genetic flaws that cause specific...
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May 24, 2005
Bush calls embryonic stem cell research the deliberate destruction of a human
President Bush made the right decision and took a public stand by again promised to veto legislation that would fund embryonic stem cell research using federal tax dollars. "The deliberate destruction of unique living self-integrated human persons is not some incidental tangent of embryonic stem cell research. It is the...
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May 20, 2005
Britains Clone a Human Embryo
Scientists at Newcastle University have cloned a human embryo for the first time in Britain, a breakthrough that they hope will eventually lead to successful treatments for degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. The scientists announced their important advance as South Korean researchers revealed landmark stem cell research that...
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May 18, 2005
Embryonic Stem Cells not Needed with Alternatives says President’s Council on Bioethics
Here is an informative article by LifeSiteNews: WASHINGTON, May 16, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The President’s Council on Bioethics, the body that advises President Bush on issues related to cloning, stem cell research and the new reproductive technologies, has issued a report suggesting that stem cells may not have to be...
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May 2, 2005
Adult Stem Cells Restore Eyesight
Another successful therapeutic application of adult stem cells has been reported and involves a pioneering new treatment shown to restore eyesight. The Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, developed the treatment over the past five years and has successfully helped 40 people see again. The procedure uses stem cells taken from...
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April 26, 2005
Adult Stem Cells for Diabetes Treatment
US scientists believe they have found a way to use brain stem cells to "cure" diabetes. Although the work is not yet ready to be tested on human patients, results in animals have been promising, say the Stanford University researchers. Many have conjectured that stem cells harvested from human embryos...
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April 13, 2005
Big Companies Pursue Embryonic Stem Cell Research
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Some large companies in the United States are pursuing plans to study stem cells drawn from early stage human embryos, a newspaper said Tuesday, thrusting them into the heated debate over the controversial branch of drug research. Companies that have initiated research programs or have plans...
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February 9, 2005
Study Suggests Adult Stem Cells Can Heal Hearts
Adult stem cells continue to show promise and application.For the first time, researchers have found signs of stem cells in the hearts of rats, mice and humans after they were born. The fact that the cells, which form in the right side of the heart, continue to exist after birth...
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February 2, 2005
The President on Embryonic Stem Cell Research
During his State of the Union Address the President stated, I will work with Congress to ensure that human embryos are not created for experimentation or grown for body parts, and that human life is never bought and sold as a commodity.Similar to JustOneMinute, at first glance this appeared reasonable...
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Docs: Adult stem cells can repair all tissues
Scientists involved in a study at Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center have claimed that adult stem cells from bone marrow are capable of regenerating all types of tissue. If verified, these claims will remove a key, yet speculative, motivation for embryonic stem cell harvesting. "The adult bone marrow contains cells...
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January 31, 2005
Michael J. Fox Promotes Embryonic Stem Cell Research in Wisconsin
Michael J. Fox will join Gov. Jim Doyle for a tour of the Waisman Center in Madison Feb. 1 in an effort to promote embryonic stem cell research [more here and here]. Doyle suggests that ESC research is consistent with Wisconsin’s reputation as a leader in biotechnology and has great...
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January 26, 2005
Spleen Stem Cells Produce Potential Cures
Previously, researchers discovered that adult stem cells taken from the spleen could regenerate the insulin-producing islets of the pancreas. The finding is significant because it provides a potential cure for diabetes. The same team is now reporting that spleen adult stem cells have properties previously believed to be present only...
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January 24, 2005
U.S. Stem Cell Lines are Contaminated
A "newly" found blow to researchers:All human embryonic stem-cell lines approved for use in federally funded research are contaminated with a foreign molecule from mice that may make them risky for use in medical therapies, according to a study released. [more]The finding is called a "setback" to the Bush administration...
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Embryonic Stems Cells are 'Useless'?
Before spending billions on embryonic stem cell research it would be a good idea to consider two significant issues. Here is the first:Most human embryonic stem-cell lines, including those available to federally funded researchers in the United States, may be useless for therapeutic applications. The body's immune defences would probably...
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January 19, 2005
Proponents of Embryonic Stem Cell Harvesting
Prothesis links to an insightful article related to the ethics of embryonic stem cell research. The author separates the ESC research proponents into two groups. The first believes that the embryo becomes a "person" at some undefined point in the continuum of development. They appeal to our moral sentiments in...
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January 15, 2005
Embryos are Humans of the Same Kind
Robert George and Patrick Lee have published what is one of the clearest statements I've read on the ethics of embryonic stem cell (ESC) research. Appearing in the New Atlantis, their article is titled Acorns and Embryos and is a response to an argument put forward by the New England...
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January 13, 2005
Stem Cells Help Paraplegic Progress After Accident
Another successful application of adult stem cells.Susan, a paraplegic, and Laura, a quadraplegic, were told they would never walk again after separate debilitating automobile accidents damaged their spinal cords. However, both are beginning to do just that after transplant surgery using their own stem cells, thus adding their names to...
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January 12, 2005
Diabetes and Stem Cells Research
Type I diabetes, commonly diagnosed during childhood, is a condition in which the body does not produce insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is used in the body to process glucose by transporting it from blood into cells. Consequently, the disease is marked by chronically high blood glucose levels that...
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January 10, 2005
Indian Scientists Treat 160 Eye Patients Using Adult Stem Cells
The successful use of adult and cord stem cells continue to be reported. Here is another, Researchers in India have used adult stem cells in the successful treatment of over 160 patients with damaged retinas. The announcement was made by Dr D Balasubramaniam, director of Hyderabad's L V Prasad Eye...
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January 8, 2005
Adult Stem Cells and Liver Disease
I'm not sure what stage this research has progressed to but the report is that adult stem cells may be used to treat cirrhosis of the liver. The increasing number of middle-aged patients with chronic liver disease caused by heavy drinking is forcing doctors to look at new ways of...
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January 6, 2005
Adult Stem Cell Research Success Continues to Grow
From Every Thought Captive - Stem Cell Update: Adult Stem Cells Still Doing Most of the Real Work - The world of stem cell research continues to spin, and the successes of non-embryonic stem cells continue to grow. Check out Stem Cell Conspiracy as well as my pro-life posts....
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January 5, 2005
Stem cells extracted from a placenta
A group of researchers in Taiwan announced that they have successfully isolated a population of multipotent cells from a human placenta, which could be a new source of stem cells and could provide an alternative to embryonic stem cells or stem cells taken from adults....
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Umbilical Cord Stem Cells Treat Heart Disease
Stem cells from umbilical cord blood have effectively treated heart attacks in animals, suggesting a new source of cells for human treatments. BetterHumans reports: "Cord blood stem cells may be more amenable to repairing hearts," says study coauthor Paul Sanberg. "In addition, cord blood stem cells are readily accessible, easy...
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Adult Stem Cells Treat Disease of the Central Nervous System
StemCells, Inc., a development-stage company at the forefront of adult stem cell research, has filed its first Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking approval to use adult human brain cells in clinical work to develop a treatment for Batten disease -- a...
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December 28, 2004
The Morality of Human Cloning for Stem Cell Research
According to the Associated Press, the creators of Dolly the sheep, the world's first mammal cloned from an adult, want to create cloned human embryos for stem cell research. For those who read this blog it should come as no surprise that I oppose the cloning of humans for stem...
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December 27, 2004
Umbilical Cord Stem Cells Make Red Blood Cells
French scientists found a way to make large quantities of red blood cells from [non-embryonic] stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood. - Bloomberg...
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December 20, 2004
Answers from Umbilical Cord Adult Stem Cells
With the recent California $3 billion hype surrounding the potential application of embryonic stem cell research, many have gotten the erroneous impression that stem cells (umbilical cord and adult) have not been successfully applied and lack the potential to treat chronic diseases, such as diabetes. Others continue to belief the...
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December 19, 2004
Ethical Embryonic Stem Cell Research Proposed
Reports of "ethical" embryonic stem cells first caught my attention several weeks ago at the Evangelical Outpost. Here is one such method that claims to produce stem cells that are quasi-embryonic without destroying a life: British scientists say they have found a way to trick nature into creating "ethical embryos"...
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December 17, 2004
Adult Stem Cells May Reverse Cirrhosis of the Liver
UK researchers are pioneering tests of the use of adult stem cells which could reverse cirrhosis of the liver. [more]...
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December 10, 2004
Embryonic Stem Cells without an Embryo?
This post and related comments at the Evangelical Outpost are worth a looking at. I haven't studied and will not comment (yet) on the claim that there is a morally acceptable means for procuring ESCs through a technique known as "altered nuclear transfer." But, I am interested in the opinion...
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December 6, 2004
Non-Embryonic Stem Cell Testimonial from Russia: Spinal Cord Injuries Reversed
Previously I commented on the seemingly miraculous reversal of paralysis by Korean researchers using stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood. It appears the Russians have developed a therapy to treat spinal cord damage using stem cells derived from the patient's own nasal tissues [more]...
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November 30, 2004
Adult Stem Cells Treat Incontinence
Cells are removed from muscle tissue in the patient's arm, cultured in a lab, and injected into the wall of the urethra and the sphincter muscle. This prevents urinary incontinence - sometimes within 24 hours - by building up muscle volume and tone. [more]...
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November 29, 2004
Umbilical Cord Stem Cells Used for Leukemia Treatment
Umbilical cord blood, now used mostly to treat children with leukemia, could save thousands of adults with the disease each year who cannot find bone marrow donors, two large studies indicate. [more]...
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Adult Stem Cell Therapy Used to Treat Vision Loss
Some amazing developments are being reported in adult stem cell research, raising new questions about the wisdom of engaging in destructive embryonic stem cell research. Researchers have now shown that transplanted adult stem cells can improve vision in eyes that have been damaged by retinal disease. Why isn't adult stem...
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Stem Cell Therapy Reportedly Reverses Paralysis
The Korea Times reported that Korean researchers, using stem cells isolated from umbilical cord blood, succeeded in reversing the paralysis of the lower limbs caused by a spinal cord injury suffered by a 37 year-old female in 1985. Note that the therapy did not involve the use of embryonic stems...
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October 9, 2004
Debate on Stem Cell Research
One of my disappointments in the debate was the answer each candidate, and particularly Bush, gave on the topic of embryonic stem cell research (ESCR). While there is no surprise over my stark disagreement with Kerry, I found Bush walking a political line, attempting to appear supportive (first president to...
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