Beyond stem cells

steve smyth — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 17:52:58 GMT

maybe I missed something, but why isn't placental tissue useful for the same things?
nobody's gonna squawk about using a placenta, are they?
for real...what have I missed here?

Beyond stem cells

Alan Boyle — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 18:20:02 GMT

Placental stem cells appear to be a promising alternative, and I'm sure they will be a focus of research. They are more flexible than adult stem cells, but the evidence so far does not indicate they are as flexible as embryonic stem cells or these new induced pluripotent stem cells. Although placental cells have a bit better profile than adult stem cells in terms of immunological response, they would not be patient-specific ... thus, in the long term, you would still face the potential problem of tissue rejection for tissue created using placental stem cells. In the shorter term, it would be harder to have the benefit of population-specific cells for drug screening. Some people have felt the need to promote placental, cord-blood and adult stem cells because they were so loath to go with the embryonic stem cells, but if these iPS cells have the same functionality as ES cells, then everybody will be on the same page science-wise. *That's a big if,* but it's the big hope of the day.

Beyond stem cells

steve smyth — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 19:07:03 GMT

thanks Al...until reading your piece, I'd never really thought about the placenta biznis...the foolish politics surrounding the issue sicken me.
But, if we could store placental factories, it would also cut down on Medical Waste...which is another impending problem( the placenta is unceremoniously tossed to the best of my knowledge )...silly thought, but the issue begs for same...
another of the world's problems...solved right here at CosmicLog...
don'tcha think?

Beyond stem cells

Mac Horowitz, Riverside. California — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 19:16:27 GMT

The nerve to my right hand thumb and two adjacent fingers has been "dead". This has been confirmed by the Veteran Administration doctor at Loma Linda who performed electrical impulse tests.(I had a Carpel Tunnel Operation that was not successful and since, my hand has been in pain as if it rests on a hot stove)
I can not use these fingers for the last three years and am wondering if the eventual stem cell success will be an advantage to me at some point of time.

Beyond stem cells

James Davis, San Antonio TX — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 21:23:11 GMT

Hallelujah, praise Jeebus, all the precious frozen embryos are now safe from the evil medical technology. Now that they aren't being kidnapped and murdered for selfish gain of chronically ill sinners, these zillions of spare embryos can go on safely as before, to the garbage with dignity.

Beyond stem cells

steve smyth — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 22:46:32 GMT

hey, Mac...I don't know the answer to your question, but with Ulnar Entrapment, Carpal Tunnel, and other nerve injuries to contend with...all the result of my own foolishness, by the way...it's pretty much prevailing wisdom that nerve injuries don't repair themselves...the inflamed, torn fascia never really closes back up totally, and the little it does often pinches a nerve bundle...making things worse...it's like having frayed wires, with dried out duct tape repairs, that don't quite short out...good luck on any medical miracles in the near future...methinks nerves are still a long way down the list of instant repair items...

Beyond stem cells

Bob Reis Charlotte North Carolina — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 23:04:52 GMT

My understanding is our research efforts are way behind other countries because of our governments restrictive policies. The states and private investment have had to take up the stem cell opportunity

Beyond stem cells

Amanda, VA — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 00:42:48 GMT

this is so frustrating!!!!

Beyond stem cells

Alan Boyle — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 03:36:23 GMT

Does it sound frustrating because cures are not just around the corner? Or is there something else I'm missing?

Beyond stem cells

steve smyth — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 04:09:20 GMT

I honestly think tht people are so totally turned off by the politics of medicine that the whole deal...good news, or bad reeks.
There's some horrible sense that no matter what we may think, the wheels of an unstoppable juggernaut are fully in motion.
That's pretty doggone frustrating, if you ask me.

Beyond stem cells

Garrett Lee, Madison, WI — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 04:59:36 GMT

Luckily, Bob Reis, a few labs (including the Thomson Lab, which made the simultaneous discovery) do still get federal funding for the presidentially approved human ES cell lines. That is why the discovery was simultaneous and not after the fact.

Beyond stem cells

Tom, West Bend, WI — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 05:35:21 GMT

Mac
Orthopedic Surgeons repair cut and/or injured nerves on a daily basis. Companies like Nuerogen and Ascension have developed nerve tubes and wraps. Tubes are generally used when a nerve is sliced and the two ends cannot be brought together. Tubes will serve as a guide for a nerve as it repairs itself (up to a 2cm gap). Wraps are generally used to prevent nueronoma formation. You need to go to a hand specialist. My guess is you have a nueronoma that needs to be removed. Have the doctor use a wrap to prevent the formation of another neuronoma. Neuronoma's can form when an injured nerve heals itself. Nerve cells will begin to replicate like mad and form a sensitive ball. The tubes and wraps will control the shape acheived by the deviding nerve cells. Good luck.

Beyond stem cells

cg gebhart — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 08:24:36 GMT

What's so frustrating in Alan Boyle's article, is how all or very many of ES cells and these iPS cells seem to only form their own colonies. They rarely if ever seem to get to the point of the quote, "We still have to make the cell type we want and we still have to get the cell type we want into the body." I.E. what is being done to differ the cells into cell types, cardiac myocytes, neurons?

Beyond stem cells

Greg Baughman — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 14:21:08 GMT

I think that this is fantastic news. Retrograding regular cells, such as skin cells, back to a stem cell state has HUGE implications. Things like liver, kidney, and heart transplants from hosts will become a thing of the past, because we will be able to grow new organs that would not be rejected by the body.

Now, if they can just figure out how to use the lentivirus to re-program the DNA section that triggers the manufacture of the AIDS virus....

Beyond stem cells

Dr.W, Orbis Tertius — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 10:43:54 GMT

A breakthrough in stem-cell research that would permit people to have their own cells tailored for their own specific medical needs would be phenomenal. Since doing so would be a personal choice, using one's own genetic material, those who oppose genetic research and therapy could simply choose not to avail themselves of it. But I doubt that the people who oppose genetic science and medicine would permit the rest of us the freedom to make such a choice...

Beyond stem cells

A L Rutter.Hull England — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 20:02:12 GMT

Strikes me they do not tap each other across the various research programs. A great deal of what is being discussed here is dancing "blindly?" round a very real chance to apply much of their latest discoveries to curing Cancers. If you can fool a cell into taking on a different identity then it is damn obvious you can tag a cancerous cell as foreign to the host's immune system and the host's immune respons would kill it off. And I know nothing!

Beyond stem cells

Mark Oliver,Hudson,NH — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 16:14:26 GMT

One of the major causes of aging in Mitochondrial DNA degradation. Somatic cell nuclear transfer makes pluripotent cells with ultrapowerful embryonic Mitochondrial DNA.

Beyond stem cells

Chitappo — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:39:25 GMT

What a joke these scientists make...Its just to make some headlines...the more you go deep into the genetic level the more the wonders of nature starts to uncover and its subsequent challenges...and this unconvering will be a lifelong process for humanity, generations after generations...
Why not simply stop all this and live along the lines of nature...