Ethical stem cells?

NewScientist (Online) ^ | 07/01/03 | Unknown

[scouse]

Amniotic fluid may hold 'ethical' stem cells

17:34 30 June 03

NewScientist.com news service

Stem cells may be present in the amniotic fluid that cushions a baby in its mother's womb, suggests a new study.

If these cells prove to have the power to differentiate into different tissue types, they may provide a solution to the ethical dilemma associated with using human embryonic stem cells (ESCs), say reproductive scientists.

Markus Henstschläger and colleagues at the University of Vienna, Austria, found that some cells in the amniotic fluid taken from pregnant women during routine amniocentesis expressed a key protein called Oct-4. This is needed to keep ESCs in their state of perpetual youth. Further investigation showed that other important proteins were also expressed.

ESCs are "pluripotent'", i.e. they are primitive cells capable of differentiating into all the different cell types in the body. Many scientists believe they hold great potential for the treatment of degenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease. But ESCs are most easily obtained by destroying embryos, a practice some find ethically unacceptable.

Henstschläger's team say their work shows human amniotic fluid "may represent a new source for stem cells without raising the ethical concerns associated with human embryonic research".

Continued at address shown above.

[scouse]

For discussion purposes.

[syriacus]

Great find!! Thanks for posting it!

[shadowman99]

My wife and I had twins recently and one of the options we were presented with by our OB was to have the umbilical cords frozen and stored for future stem cell harvesting. This way if the children (or related family member) ever became sick they would have a resource with their own cells.

There are facilities that now specialize in this service for a few hundred dollars a year.

[gcruse]

Something about October 4, ESC keys, and vienna sausages. Or maybe not.

[RJCogburn]

Something about October 4, ESC keys, and vienna sausages. Or maybe not.

First post I read after getting home from work.....left me a little confused for a moment.

Now I get it. The new information is coming fast, it seems. Hopefully something good will turn up from all this.

And hopefully there will not be abunch of screaming about doing amniocentesis, which was done for what reason in this circumstance? They don't say.

[gcruse]

There's more to the article at the site.