Posted on 08/14/2007 4:05:10 PM PDT by wagglebee
London, England (LifeNews.com) -- Scientists in England have developed a vaccine that, in early testing, appears to help patients with multiple sclerosis without relying on controversial embryonic stem cells. Pro-life advocates oppose the use of the cells because days-old unborn children must be destroyed to get them.
Dr. Amit Bar-Or and researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute developed a vaccine that relies on the insertion of healthy DNA into a patient with the debilitating disease.
Bar-Or tested the BHT-3009 on 30 patients where half received the injection and half received a placebo. The London Telegraph reports that the numbers of white blood cells that deplete myelin in MS patients reduced in those given the vaccine.
According to his report in the journal Archives of Neurology, "BHT-3009 was safe and well tolerated, provided favorable trends on brain MRI and produced beneficial immune changes."
The newspaper said the research team is now starting a larger study involving 290 patients.
Wesley J. Smith, a noted author and attorney who is one of the leading bioethics watchdogs, said the slowing of the progress of the MS disease occurred without the use of embryonic stem cells.
"We've heard the mantra repeatedly: embryonic stem cells are the only hope (or the best hope) for curing this disease and that disease. But the evidence continues to grow that this just isn't true," he said in response to the study.
"Adult stem cells have stopped the progression of the disabling disease in Stage 2 human trials. Now, a different approach in early human trials is also showing promise," he added.
"There is so much going on in biotechnology that has nothing to do with cloning and ESCR," Smith concluded. "It's time to stop the hype and acknowledge that embryonic stem cell research is merely one of many potential biotechnological approaches for treating diseases--most of the others being utterly non morally contentious."
What we have actually learned is that embryonic stem cells offer NO HOPE.
Pro-Life Ping
MS Ping
Prayers that this vaccine proves effective and safe.
Please add me to your M.S. ping.
This is interesting news and might help me out!
CGK has the MS list, I just pinged her to let her know. I don’t see many MS threads, but I’m happy to let you know when I post them.
“Curses!!! A treatment that doesn’t involve ESCs!”
What some of my acquaintances at a university would probably say
about this story.
They aren’t heartless folks...they are just cocksure that ESCs will
soon cure just about malady.
Provided semi-loads of tax dollars are poured into their lab.
Put me on your M.S. ping please. Thanks!
As a failed program is easier to kill I am glad for practicality that embryonic stem cells have turned out to be a dud. However this line of thinking makes me a little uneasy. Even if ESC were actually the fountain of youth and cure for everything from hangnails to cancer this research would still be wrong.
I am concerned that we have gotten our selves into a position where we are arguing against it on effectiveness grounds rather then from the foundation of killing an innocent is wrong and should not be done.
To bring up an old argument, slavery may not be economically less productive then having free laborer but that is not the foundation to build an antislavery argument on. That one person should not own another is a much better foundation in my opinion.
They must be very distressed that adult (including umbilical cord) stem cells are being used to successfully treat over six dozen conditions. And it has been done with almost exclusively PRIVATE funds.
If the pharmaceutical and biotech companies thought there was money to be made, they would be pouring billions into ESC research; however, they aren't, follow the money.
Creating cancerous tumors in lab mice.
The left is pushing ESCs for one reason and one reason only, to provide an additional safeguard for abortion.
I do not have an MS list, CGK does; however, I will try to ping you when I see MS threads.
Add me to your MS ping list pls.
See #14.
Here’s part of the list, it’s the part that shows up on my pings from cgk:
2ndClassCitizen; algtx; balls; Beth; Born Conservative; cva66snipe; dawn53; Deut28; Draco; ...
.
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