Posted on 03/22/2005 3:31:47 PM PST by billorites
Australian scientists have found that stem cells taken from adults could have the same life-saving potential as those taken from embryos, a discovery that could potentially end the contentious debate over embryonic research.
The results from the four-year project, at Australia's Griffith University in Queensland, show that adult stem cells harvested from the nose can be grown into virtually any kind of cell in the human body.
Until now it has been thought that adult stem cells could only develop into different cell types of their own tissue, unlike embryonic stem cells which can turn into any body cell type.
Griffith University researcher Professor Alan Mackay-Sim said the study showed that olfactory stem cells could develop into heart cells, liver cells, kidney cells, muscle cells, brain cells and nerve cells. In addition the olfactory stem cells did not have the problems of rejection or forming tumors as is common with embryonic stem cells.
"Our experiments have shown adult stem cells isolated from the olfactory mucosa have the ability to develop into many different cell types if they are given the right chemical or cellular environment, Professor Mackay-Sim said, in research published on the Internet.
"These adult olfactory stem cells appear to have the same ability as embryonic stem cells in giving rise to many different cell types but have the advantage that they can be obtained from all individuals, even older people who might be most in need of stem cell therapies. Stem cells obtained and transplanted into the same person would not be rejected by the immune system," he said.
Professor Mackay-Sim said olfactory stem cells can be taken from small pieces of tissue taken from the nose under local anaesthetic, and are relatively easy to grow and multiply in the lab.
"We can multiply them from small samples...
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
Otherwise, it has arguably been a bad week for the pro-death movement....
And. . .unless one is trying to fix a defect in a tissue resulting from a genetic problem, in which case one needs a donor, growing tissue from the patient's own stem-cells guarantees no chance of tissue rejection, and no need for anti-rejection drugs. (A technical downside the embryo-harvesting ghouls always overlook when trying to claim for their favored approach the mantle of 'most promising'.)
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That was my first thought as well! :)
It was the nose photo above my post that triggered the memory. Take care...
LOL. I think you're right. I've never seen stem cells drawn from plastic....
You know, I could use some of those hair growth stemcells
right about now.
And to think I have been flicking all those stemcells out
the truck window instead of rubbing them on my scalp really
bums me out.
similar story, different source, earlier topic:
Sweet cell of success
(Major breakthrough in adult stem cell research could end ethical debate)
The Australian | March 22, 2005 | Wayne Smith
Posted on 03/21/2005 7:51:51 AM PST by dead
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1367196/posts
Even though it's been treated as a joke so far on this thread, this one needs to be bumped to the top.
It seems that we replace our sensory cells (smell) through out our lives and so the mucosa is full of stem cells. These easily accessible cells are proving plastic enough to obtain many different types of cells from the 3 major cell lines.
This is news, people! Keep this one bumped, please!
I wonder if this will prove true for smokers?
Many have thought for a long time that adult stem cells show more promise. Research on embryonic stem cells has shown that they can lead to uncontrolled, i.e., cancerous, growth. I've always thought the controversy over embryonic stem cell research would end up being pointless.
When business realizes that adult stem cells and umbilical cord stem cells can be manipulated, banked, and turned into cells needed by whole classes of genetically similar patients (with banks of cell lines matched generically to whole groups of similar genetic characteristics), THEN the cannibalistic zeal will abate and stem cell therapies will become the miracle hoped for. God will not bless cannibalizing embryo-aged humans, but He will bless honest work that defers to moral/ethical behavior.
Hoc, you know nobody's more serious about the cause then me, but I can't resist! Here's the new slogan for promoting adult stem cell research: "Need a medical miracle? Pick your nose!"
ProLife Ping!
If anyone wants on or off my ProLife Ping List, please notify me here or by freepmail.
"Choose life, pick your nose!"
That's what I've always heard: you can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't rub your friends on your sleeve.
And that brings back another, courtesy of Spider Robinson: If a felon practices felony and a glutton practices gluttony, God is an iron.
Thanks for the bump, Coleus! BTW, some of us are trying to encourage "non-embryonic stem cells" as a catch all counter to "destruction of human research subjects."
Controlling the language and terminology seems to trump science and ethics, these days.
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