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Stem-Cell Treatment for Blindness Moving Through Patient Testing (macular)
MIT Technology Review ^ | 04/17/2014 | Susan Young

Posted on 04/17/2014 10:47:08 AM PDT by RoosterRedux

A new treatment for macular degeneration is close to the next stage of human testing—a noteworthy event not just for the millions of patients it could help, but for its potential to become the first therapy based on embryonic stem cells.

This year, the Boston-area company Advanced Cell Technology plans to move its stem-cell treatment for two forms of vision loss into advanced human trials. The company has already reported that the treatment is safe (see “Eye Study Is a Small but Crucial Advance for Stem-Cell Therapy”), although a full report of the results from the early, safety-focused testing has yet to be published. The planned trials will test whether it is effective. The treatment will be tested both on patients with Stargardt’s disease (an inherited form of progressive vision loss that can affect children) and on those with age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss among people 65 and older.

The treatment is based on retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells that have been grown from embryonic stem cells. A surgeon injects 150 microliters of RPE cells—roughly the amount of liquid in three raindrops—under a patient’s retina, which is temporarily detached for the procedure. RPE cells support the retina’s photoreceptors, which are the cells that detect incoming light and pass the information on to the brain.

(Excerpt) Read more at technologyreview.com ...


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1 posted on 04/17/2014 10:47:08 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: RoosterRedux

They are Hell-bent on finding something to do with ground-up baby parts.


2 posted on 04/17/2014 10:53:46 AM PDT by Steely Tom (How do you feel about robbing Peter's robot?)
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To: RoosterRedux
embryonic stem cells

So... restore my eyesight but kill a baby to do it?

No, thanks.

3 posted on 04/17/2014 10:55:09 AM PDT by grobdriver (Where is Wilson Blair when you need him?)
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To: grobdriver

Agree.


4 posted on 04/17/2014 10:57:44 AM PDT by Jane Long (While Marxists continue the fundamental transformation of the USA, progressive RINOs assist!)
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To: Steely Tom
They are Hell-bent on finding something to do with ground-up baby parts.

With their track record to date, I expect to see noses growing out of the test participants' eyes.

The Dr. Frankensteins who come up with these experiments should be made to try them on themselves first.

5 posted on 04/17/2014 11:06:17 AM PDT by SamuraiScot
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To: Steely Tom
They are Hell-bent on finding something to do with ground-up baby parts.

My understanding is that their particular strain of stem cells came from an unused frozen embryo, not an aborted baby.

This is from a third party I know who is invested in this company. I mentioned my disdain for the embryonic lines from aborted babies and the lack of progress with them, and he mentioned he'd looked into it and what he'd discovered as a result.

6 posted on 04/17/2014 11:09:00 AM PDT by IYAS9YAS (Has anyone seen my tagline? It was here yesterday. I seem to have misplaced it.)
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To: IYAS9YAS
My understanding is that their particular strain of stem cells came from an unused frozen embryo, not an aborted baby.

They took one cell from the embryo, and left it otherwise intact.

It may be splitting hairs, since the embryo itself may have been (or may still be) viable, but sits (or at least sat) unwanted for now.

7 posted on 04/17/2014 11:12:20 AM PDT by IYAS9YAS (Has anyone seen my tagline? It was here yesterday. I seem to have misplaced it.)
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To: SamuraiScot

Bump


8 posted on 04/17/2014 11:12:21 AM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans!)
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To: Steely Tom

Many advances are being made with adult stem cells but the left wants to fund the other kind


9 posted on 04/17/2014 11:13:01 AM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans!)
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To: GeronL
Many advances are being made with adult stem cells but the left wants to fund the other kind

I know.

Adult stem cells do nothing to advance the agenda.

10 posted on 04/17/2014 11:14:06 AM PDT by Steely Tom (How do you feel about robbing Peter's robot?)
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To: IYAS9YAS
In all future trials, ACT will also be using its patented "embryo-safe" technique, which allows them to biopsy a single cell from an embryo -- similar to what's done in pre-implantation genetic diagnosis during the IVF process -- and then replicate that cell ad infinitum. Lanza, whose accent renders him unequivocally Bostonian, was all but obligated to put it this way: "If you consider that cell to be one Red Sox fan, we can actually, from there, create enough to fill all of Fenway Park."

From this article: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/12/2013-year-of-the-stem-cell/266574/

11 posted on 04/17/2014 11:19:06 AM PDT by IYAS9YAS (Has anyone seen my tagline? It was here yesterday. I seem to have misplaced it.)
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To: IYAS9YAS

So, what happened to that first embryo? Did it die? Is it still frozen somewhere? Who wants to implant an embryo that has had a chunk taken out of it? Isn’t that embryo a human sacrifice, in a sense? Does it help, morally, that it was just one embryo, instead of scores of them?

I’m still not comfortable with this.


12 posted on 04/17/2014 11:29:35 AM PDT by married21 ( As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.)
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To: IYAS9YAS

Years ago, right here on Free Republic, I called out embryonic stem cell research as “high tech cannibalism”. When these processes become commonplace, it’s going to be a scary world, but most people won’t notice. Would you rather be blind or eat a baby and see? Sounds like Mayan folklore, but this and other abonimations like chimera’s are becoming real before our eyes.


13 posted on 04/17/2014 11:40:07 AM PDT by BRK
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To: married21
I’m still not comfortable with this.

Neither am I. I just posted this information to show that it was not actually an aborted baby as the source of the line.

I don't know what happened to the embryo from there. I can say this, with the modern advances in fertilization techniques, there are many thousands of frozen embryos out there, many of which may never be implanted. What becomes of them, as well?

14 posted on 04/17/2014 11:40:29 AM PDT by IYAS9YAS (Has anyone seen my tagline? It was here yesterday. I seem to have misplaced it.)
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To: BRK
Sounds like Mayan folklore, but this and other abonimations like chimera’s are becoming real before our eyes.

Chimerism has been around since long before stem cell research.

Again, I'm not comfortable with the use of the embryo. More specifically, that that embryo is out there and likely never to be implanted and grown as a new life.

15 posted on 04/17/2014 11:43:08 AM PDT by IYAS9YAS (Has anyone seen my tagline? It was here yesterday. I seem to have misplaced it.)
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To: married21

the tech is real lanza is real..the co is pump and dilute ...mac degen therapy is already reality in several undeveloped countries...these guys are simply announcing that they have a method now...that complies with requirement that the tech does not extend life span....so can be used here in the U.S.

They just legalized human dna splicing ....stem cell is several levels below the danger inherent in splicing.

england has been splicing human dna for years....and ive read that a 1st yr bio student should be able to splice in their garage ....at this time....so soon there will probly be some very interesting pets...generated....

w8QF;_ylu=X3oDMTByZ2N0cmxpBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQDBGdwb3MDMg—?p=soundtrack+for+ben&vid=1308e268edd553f20c0d914bfe492b4d&l=2%3A33&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DVN.608017672439728218%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D-bverx-nMWQ&tit=MICHAEL+JACKSON+-+BEN+[Music+Video]&c=1&sigr=11ah11bgq&sigt=11395q5l9&pstcat=arts+culture+and+entertainment&age=0&&tt=b


16 posted on 04/17/2014 11:47:10 AM PDT by Therapsid
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To: Therapsid

http://time.com/65610/cloning-cells-from-two-adult-men/


17 posted on 04/17/2014 11:51:01 AM PDT by Therapsid
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To: married21

Who wants to implant an embryo that has had a chunk taken out of it?


Based on how the article said it was done, not sure that ONE CELL could be classified as a CHUNK


18 posted on 04/17/2014 12:44:36 PM PDT by chaosagent (Remember, no matter how you slice it, forbidden fruit still tastes the sweetest!)
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To: chaosagent

If you were the person undergoing fertility treatment, you’d probably prefer to implant an embryo that had no procedure done to it for your pregnancy, even if the procedure only takes out one cell, because it means it’s been handled somehow, so there is more risk of a problem with the embryo. Even if the procedure was a lot cheaper if you opted for the “certified pre-owned” embryo, I think many would still want theirs to be absolutely pristine.


19 posted on 04/17/2014 5:20:27 PM PDT by married21 ( As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.)
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To: RoosterRedux; KingOfVagabonds; Berlin_Freeper; UnRuley1; mlizzy; mc5cents; RichInOC; ...
+

Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:

Add me / Remove me

Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.

20 posted on 04/17/2014 5:26:31 PM PDT by narses (Matthew 7:6. He appears to have made up his mind let him live with the consequences.)
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