Advance made in stem-cell debate

Washington Times ^ | August 20, 2005 | Joyce Howard Price

[ovrtaxt]

A team of Texas and British researchers says it has produced large amounts of embryoniclike stem cells from umbilical cord blood, potentially ending the ethical debate affecting stem-cell research -- the need to kill human embryos.

The international researchers said the cells -- called cord-blood-derived-embryoniclike stem cells, or CBEs -- have the ability to turn into any kind of body tissue, like embryonic stem cells do, and can be mass-produced using technology derived from NASA.

[ovrtaxt]

"Politically, the team's findings offer hope to pro-life opponents of using federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, which requires the destruction of human embryos. They say such research has been hyped and is far from proven. They've regularly called for more umbilical-cord-blood research. "

[PeteB570]

Good. That means, aside from the pro-life debate, all of the worlds medical problems will be cured within the next year.


Hey! Quite with the rock chunking! I'm just repeating what the pro stem cell crowd has been telling everybody about why we should do it.

I think it's more like "Fund me, I need a cushy job until I retire."

[ovrtaxt]

Hey! Everybody knows that the scientists are above any selfish motivations like that. They are saintly, ethereal, angelic. They only are concerned with truth and their integrity is unassailable. They certainly don't worry about such petty concerns as career and personal aggrandizement.

Just ask one.

[alloysteel]

Embryonic stem-cell research which depends on the destruction of fertilized human embryos may have been made into a moot point.

The day will come when every human has their own 'repair kit' consisting of a quantity of cultured stem cells taken from the core blood saved from the respective individual's placenta. Kind of a factory follow-up.

[ovrtaxt]

A completely moral body bank? I'd go for that!

[AliVeritas]

Bookmark

[Straight Vermonter]

can be mass-produced using technology derived from NASA.

NASA makes stem cells???

[ovrtaxt]

"It will be important if it's true, and I hope it's true," Charles Jennings, executive director of Harvard University's Stem-Cell Institute, said yesterday. But he said "many questions" need to be answered. Those questions, he and other scientists said, include whether CBEs will function properly and what their life span will be.

From what I know, embryonic stem cells don't function properly anyway- not nearly as well as stem cells derived from other sources. I think his question needs to focus on how similar this new technology is to genuine embryonic cells, and not how well they function.

[lastchance]

The prodeath brigade will never go for this. I may be too cynical but I still think that one reason they push for embryonic stem cell research is the money to be made. Abortionists and the clinics they run would be a source and I am sure they would charge for access to aborted embryos.
I would be curious to know if there is a connection between pro death supporters and urging for embryonic stem cell research.

[ovrtaxt]

Oh, absolutely. Embryonic research is the latest justification for the pro-death folks.

[neverdem]

Cell Prolif. 2005 Aug;38(4):245-55.

Production of stem cells with embryonic characteristics from human umbilical cord blood.

McGuckin CP, Forraz N, Baradez MO, Navran S, Zhao J, Urban R, Tilton R, Denner L.

Stem Cell Therapy Programme, School of Life Sciences, Kingston University, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, UK.

Abstract. When will embryonic stem cells reach the clinic? The answer is simple - not soon! To produce large quantities of homogeneous tissue for transplantation, without feeder layers, and with the appropriate recipient's immunological phenotype, is a significant scientific hindrance, although adult stem (ADS) cells provide an alternative, more ethically acceptable, source. The annual global 100 million human birth rate proposes umbilical cord blood (UCB) as the largest untouched stem cell source, with advantages of naive immune status and relatively unshortened telomere length. Here, we report the world's first reproducible production of cells expressing embryonic stem cell markers, - cord-blood-derived embryonic-like stem cells (CBEs). UCB, after elective birth by Caesarean section, has been separated by sequential immunomagnetic removal of nucleate granulocytes, erythrocytes and haemopoietic myeloid/lymphoid progenitors. After 7 days of high density culture in microflasks, (10(5) cells/ml, IMDM, FCS 10%, thrombopoietin 10 ng/ml, flt3-ligand 50 ng/ml, c-kit ligand 20 ng/ml). CBE colonies formed adherent to the substrata; these were maintained for 6 weeks, then were subcultured and continued for a minimum 13 weeks. CBEs were positive for TRA-1-60, TRA-1-81, SSEA-4, SSEA-3 and Oct-4, but not SSEA-1, indicative of restriction in the human stem cell compartment. The CBEs were also microgravity-bioreactor cultured with hepatocyte growth medium (IMDM, FCS 10%, HGF 20 ng/ml, bFGF 10 ng/ml, EGF 10 ng/ml, c-kit ligand 10 ng/ml). After 4 weeks the cells were found to express characteristic hepatic markers, cytokeratin-18, alpha-foetoprotein and albumin. Thus, such CBEs are a viable human alternative from embryonic stem cells for stem cell research, without ethical constraint and with potential for clinical applications.

PMID: 16098183 [PubMed - in process]