Free Republic

The Obama administration is getting grief from a pro-life group for approving an experiment using the remains of the bodies of unborn children victimized in abortion for research continues in U.S. laboratories. Scott Fischbach, the director of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life uncovered the information showing a clinical trial approved by the Food and Drug Administration uses brain tissue from aborted unborn babies to treat macular degeneration. StemCells Inc. will inject fetal brain stem cells into the eyes of up to 16 patients to study the cells’ effect on vision. In its press release announcing the clinical trial, StemCells Inc....

The human body is a complex biological system. In order to fully understand this complex system, in vivo (live) analysis is often required. However, the study of human biology in vivo is severely limited due to ethical and technical constraints. In place of human models, humanized mice have been created to fill this role. These humanized mice have become important tools for the in vivo studies of human cells, tissues, and organs, without putting individuals at risk. Such humanized mouse models may be used to model the human immune system in scenarios of health and pathology. A successful means of...

A technician worked for a company partnered with Planned Parenthood to harvest fetal tissue said there’s “incentive to try and get the hard stuff ‘cause you’re going to get more money,” in latest Planned Parenthood undercover video. “For whatever we could procure, they would get a certain percentage,” said Holly O’Donnell, ex-procurement technician for StemExpress, LLC. GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING: latest undercover Planned Parenthood video The new, graphic video from Center for Medical Progress appears shows technicians using tweezers to pick through aborted fetal tissue for baby parts. After one person in the video picks out a pair of intact kidneys...

After two shocking videos caught Planned Parenthood doctors discussing and arranging the sale of body parts of aborted babies, a third video has been released today catching a Planned Parenthood vice president negotiating the sale of aborted babies and attempting to get as much money as possible from the deal.As LifeNews reported, the first video of undercover footage shows Planned Parenthood Federation of AmericaÂ’s Senior Director of Medical Services, Dr. Deborah Nucatola, describing how Planned Parenthood sells the body parts of aborted unborn children and admitting she uses partial-birth abortions to supply intact body parts.In the second video, Planned Parenthood...

I wrote this piece weeks ago. It has just now been published online. I had no idea that the Center for Medical Progress was about to drop the bomb on Planned Parenthood and their participation in the market for aborted baby parts. In case you were wondering what some companies use aborted baby parts for, read my latest at the National Catholic Register: "It has been several years since the height of the stem-cell controversy, where every day debate raged over the destruction of embryos for embryonic stem cells. These human embryos, conceived in a lab by the hundreds of...

The site selling aborted baby parts is gone, but you can still find out more in the wayback machine. Take a look and save it before they remove it too!

Abstract Here, we propose a new strategy for the treatment of early cancerous lesions and advanced metastatic disease, via the selective targeting of cancer stem cells (CSCs), a.k.a., tumor-initiating cells (TICs). We searched for a global phenotypic characteristic that was highly conserved among cancer stem cells, across multiple tumor types, to provide a mutation-independent approach to cancer therapy. This would allow us to target cancer stem cells, effectively treating cancer as a single disease of “stemness”, independently of the tumor tissue type. Using this approach, we identified a conserved phenotypic weak point – a strict dependence on mitochondrial biogenesis for...

Researchers in Germany have grown complete spinal cords – partly thanks to a gene called sonic hedgehog.As regenerative medicine and stem cell technologies continue to progress, so the list of tissues and organs that can be grown from scratch – and potentially replaced – continues to grow. In the past few years, researchers have used stem cells to grow windpipes, bladders, urethras and vaginas in the lab, and, in some cases, successfully transplanted them into patients. Others are making progress in growing liver and heart tissue; one team in London is busy growing blood vessels, noses and ears; and some...

Politics and Religion Pt. 1 Catholic Answers published its now-famous “Voter’s Guide for Serious Catholics” back in 2004 (updated in 2006) that has now sold millions of copies with millions more having been distributed for free. In that document, for which Catholic Answers has taken a lot of flack by the way, we give guidance to Catholics in voting so that, quite frankly, Catholics will “vote like Catholics,” yet, we do much more than just that. We give instruction, in complete harmony with the teaching authority of the Church, as to the most important moral issues of our day that are politically in play....

The pitch was intriguing: U.S. health officials wanted to fast-track trials for an Ebola vaccine and sounded the call for volunteers. Charles Sullivan called up the hotline on a whim, figuring the National Institutes of Health already had filled its queue and wouldn’t need him. But he was accepted for three rounds of shots of a deactivated virus, a year’s worth of blood analysis and a $900 check for his trouble. The clinical trial went well, and the vaccine seemed promising. A decade later, the country is still waiting for a vaccine amid a worldwide Ebola outbreak, and Mr. Sullivan...

The Obama Administration has chosen to back Ebola vaccines made using cell lines cultivated from aborted babies, despite the fact that the government itself acknowledged that moral alternatives could also be used, according to a pro-life organization that specializes in advocating for morally produced vaccines.  Children of God for Life says it has discovered that several Ebola vaccines in development for use worldwide are being made using the aborted fetal cell lines.The proof of the use of the controversial cell lines in the manufacture of the vaccines is found in the patents. According to the patents, Glaxo SmithKline (GSK) and NIAID...

Unfortunately, as LifeNews has documented, there is a chance your donation to The ALS Association could be used to support embryonic stem cell research. ALSA has confirmed it supports research involving the destruction of unborn human life to find cures for the disease. In an email to Religion News Service, Carrie Munk, a spokeswoman for the ALS Association, said that the organization primarily funds adult stem cell research. “Currently, The Association is funding one study using embryonic stem cells (ESC), and the stem cell line was established many years ago under ethical guidelines set by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders...

The following post was written by a former research fellow in the lab of Piero Anversa to whom we’ve promised confidentiality. Anversa has previously told us that he cannot comment because of an ongoing investigation. In the early 2000s, his laboratory published a series of papers regarding the regenerative qualities of bone marrow-derived and cardiac-resident “stem cells." Those initial findings, as well as the research conducted since those early studies, have always been surrounded by controversy, as many have been unsuccessful in efforts to replicate their results. The “Hypothesis” was that c-kit (cd117) positive cells in the heart (or bone...

The Japanese laboratory that retracted a paper reporting a potentially major breakthrough in stem cell research said Wednesday its researchers have not managed to replicate the results. Scientists at the government-affiliated Riken Center for Developmental Biology said they are still trying to match results reported in two papers published by the journal Nature in January and then retracted in July. […] (Riken scientist Haruko) Obokata and other researchers in Boston and Japan participating in the project said they used a simple procedure to turn ordinary cells from mice into stem cells. They exposed cells from spleens of newborn mice to...

Showing his support for those suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease, the superintendent of Catholic schools for the Cincinnati Archdiocese took part in the ice bucket challenge Aug. 21. Superintendent Jim Rigg was joined by Tom Otten, principal of Elder Catholic High School, on the school’s campus. The challenge has taken the nation by storm to raise money in support of research into the disease, which is formally known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease for which there is no cure and no proven treatments. In the challenge, people are asked to share videos through...

An hour's drive to the southeast, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Dr. Eduardo Marban has recently launched an experiment to help patients like Karpman. Marban led one of the earlier stem cell trials, using cells taken by biopsy from the patient's own heart. The cells were multiplied in a laboratory for two to three weeks and then reinfused through a catheter. At the time, says Marban, it was thought that the stem cells themselves turned into new heart muscle and blood vessels. "In fact, the more we learned, the more we realized that that's not what these cells...

Boston researchers have successfully regrown human corneal tissue—a feat that could potentially restore vision in the blind. The achievement also marks one of the first times that scientists have constructed tissue using adult-derived human stem cells. In a new study published in the journal Nature, researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear Institute, Boston Children’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the VA Boston Healthcare System detailed their groundbreaking research. According to the paper, the key to the study’s success revolves around a molecule known as ABCB5, which serves as a biomarker for previously elusive limbal stem cells. Residing in the...

Fasting for as little as three days can regenerate the entire immune system, even in the elderly, scientists have found in a breakthrough described as “remarkable”. Although fasting diets have been criticized by nutritionists for being unhealthy, new research suggests starving the body kick-starts stem cells into producing new white blood cells, which fight off infection. Scientists at the University of Southern California say the discovery could be particularly beneficial for people suffering from damaged immune systems, such as cancer patients on chemotherapy. […] Scientists found that prolonged fasting also reduced the enzyme PKA, which is linked to aging and...

The agony of root canal surgery and the need for tooth fillings could soon be ended after scientists discovered a way to make a rotting tooth repair itself using a laser beam. Just five minutes under a laser was enough to kickstart the healing process inside the mouth, the researchers found. The new technique—although only tested on rats so far—could prevent the need for fillings for some types of decay, and may eventually replace painful and expensive root canal treatment. Researchers, which included experts from the US government’s dental research team, found a blast of intense light from a laser...

The European Commission has dismissed a campaign to scrap funding for stem cell research and reproductive health services. The demand was made by the “One of Us” campaign, the second citizens’ initiative to reach the 1 million signatures required under the Lisbon treaty. The campaign, which has been backed by Popes Francis and Benedict, the current and former heads of the Catholic church, and backed by a number of religious organizations, sought to ban the use of EU funds for research, foreign aid programs and public health activities that are linked to the destruction of human embryos. …