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Genome sequencing can be used to determine whether a patient’s illness is genetic, but it usually takes weeks to get results. A new ultra-rapid technique can sequence a person’s genome and diagnose genetic diseases in just a few hours, earning it a Guinness World Record. All the information that makes up an organism is contained in its genome, including traits like eye color, as well as genetic diseases. By comparing a patient’s genome with a checklist of DNA mutations associated with certain inherited diseases, doctors can diagnose otherwise mysterious illnesses. Currently, this process usually takes a few weeks. But in...

Enlarge Image Direct delivery. Neurosurgeons inject human neural stem cells into bundles of nerve axons, hoping the cells will become myelinating oligodendrocytes. Credit: Kenneth Probst Four young boys with a rare, fatal brain condition have made it through a dangerous ordeal. Scientists have safely transplanted human neural stem cells into their brains. Twelve months after the surgeries, the boys have more myelin—a fatty insulating protein that coats nerve fibers and speeds up electric signals between neurons—and show improved brain function, a new study in Science Translational Medicine reports. The preliminary trial paves the way for future research into potential...

Animal study shows promise for treatment of Alport syndrome BOSTON -- The discovery that bone-marrow derived stem cells can regenerate damaged renal cells in an animal model of Alport syndrome provides a potential new strategy for managing this inherited kidney disease and offers the first example of how stem cells may be useful in repairing basement membrane matrix defects and restoring organ function. Led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), the findings are described in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), which appears on-line the week of April 24, 2006. Symptoms of Alport syndrome,...