Stem cells, Adult

Scientists have discovered an antibody that can turn stem cells from a patient's bone marrow directly into brain cells, a potential breakthrough in the treatment of neurological diseases and injuries.

Richard Lerner, of the Scripps Research Institute in California, says that when a specific antibody is injected into stem cells from bone marrow—which normally turn into white blood cells—the cells can be triggered to turn into brain cells.

"There's been a lot of research activity where people would like to repair brain and spinal cord injuries," Lerner says. "With this method, you can go to a person's own stem cells and turn them into brain cells that can repair nerve injuries."

"We created this event so that we could educate the world on the ability of adult stem cell therapies to address countless diseases and medical conditions, reducing suffering on a truly global scale," said Dr. Robin Smith, President of The Stem for Life Foundation and CEO of NeoStem. "To tell this story of hope and healing, and to address the many misconceptions surrounding stem cell therapies, we have gathered leaders and pioneers of the regenerative medicine industry, as well as patients who have received adult stem cell therapies, journalists, ethicists, educators, policy experts and religious officials. The human body holds the secrets to healing and this landmark event will sound a clarion call."

A clinical trial being conducted by the Sutter Neuroscience Institute in Sacramento, California to address this situation began recruiting participants today for a highly experimental stem cell therapy for autism. The institute plans to find 30 autistic children between ages 2 and 7 with cord blood banked at the privately-run Cord Blood Registry, located about 100 miles west of the institute....

A major difference between the Sutter trial and those in China is that his will use the child’s own stem cells, rather than those from a donor. Chez hypothesizes that one way autologous stem cell infusion might work is by reducing inflammation within the body’s immune system. This would answer previous research that suggests that autism may be an autoimmune disease. “One of our exploratory goals will be to look at inflammatory markers in cells,” he says.

The study’s primary goal, however, will be assessing changes in patients’ speaking and understanding of vocabulary. For each individual, researchers will create a baseline benchmark that establishes current skill levels. The group will be evenly divided, with one initially receiving an infusion of their own, unmodified cord blood stem cells and the other a placebo treatment of saline injection. Six months later, all of the children will be tested on their ability to comprehend and form words. The groups will then be switched. In the course of the 13-month-long study, both groups will receive only one stem cell therapy infusion.

Any stem-cell–based product that contains cells or tissues that "are highly processed, are used for other than their normal function, are combined with non-tissue components, or are used for metabolic purposes" — and that includes most, if not all, of them — would also be subject to the Public Health Safety Act, Section 351, which regulates the licensing of biologic products and requires the submission of an investigational new drug application to the FDA before studies involving humans are initiated.

"Many patients are dying or suffering daily with incurable diseases or problems that require major surgery. These patients should have access to basic adult stem cell therapy now." stated Christopher J. Centeno, M.D, an ASCTA physician member. "ASCTA is establishing guidelines which will allow the safe use of the patient's own adult stem cells under the supervision of doctors." continued Centeno. Another ASCTA physician member, Frank Falco, M.D. stated, "The FDA's position against someone using their own stem cells is taking it too far. We are talking about a person using their own tissue to treat a degenerative disorder or process safely without the use of medications or surgery. Although we agree that oversight and standards are necessary, this should be provided through a physician organization such as ASCTA rather than by a government agency."

Alumnus Michael Gallagher and his wife, Elizabeth, have made a $5 million gift to establish the Elizabeth and Michael Gallagher Family Professorships in Adult Stem Cell Research at the University of Notre Dame.

Their gift, which will fund three new endowed professorships in adult and all forms of non-embryonic stem cell research, will strengthen Notre Dame's leadership in the field of stem cell research and enhance the University's effective dialogue between the biomedical research community and the Catholic Church on matters related to the use and application of stem cells and regenerative medicine.

"As a Catholic university, Notre Dame carries a mantle of responsibility to use our scholarship and resources to help alleviate human suffering, and, in this area of research in particular, to do so with deep respect for the sanctity of all human life," said Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., the University's president. "These new professorships will enable us to effectively build upon an already strong foundation in this critically important field. We are tremendously grateful to the Gallaghers for making this possible with their transformative gift."

A new collaboration has begun between the largest European family adult stem cell bank, Cryo-Save, and Europe's most important Catholic university, "Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore" (UCSC). Policlinico "Gemelli" University Hospital based in Rome, Italy, is part of the UCSC Faculty of Medicine and Surgery and is owned by the Vatican. The partnership aims at promoting and improving knowledge on the cryopreservation of mesenchymal stem cells from the umbilical cord tissue. Both parties strongly believe in the potential of their use.

Cryo-Save has also obtained funding from the Italian Molise region (630.000 euro). The 'Go!!!' initiative subsidies the start-up of innovative companies in this region and Cryo-Save has obtained funding for the development of cryopreservation techniques of cord tissue, in Campobasso, at the 'Giovanni Paolo II' Centre for Research and Training on High Technology.

Professor Giovanni Scambia, Head of the University's Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics and Scientific Manager for the UCSC, says

"The number of pathologies in which mesenchymal stem cells could play a role is growing exponentially: there are over 2,400 studies on humans involving stem cells. It represents a significant clinical opportunity for applications in regenerative medicine."

Active in the collection, processing and cryopreservation of adult stem cells, Cryo-Save is the leading international family adult stem cell bank. The company's dedication to educating the public on the use of stem cells has led to collaboration with the UCSC aimed at increasing the influence of this new and exciting medical field.

Arnoud van Tulder, CEO of Cryo-Save, says

"The collaboration with UCSC and the Italian hospitals linked to it is a win-win association between private and public entities that supports our company's efforts to widely improve the knowledge of stem cell storage. It will increase public awareness and further strengthen our leading position and business in addition to helping to further develop therapeutic applications."

DALTON, Ga. - A cutting edge procedure in the fight against flesh-eating bacteria could land a Georgia podiatrist in the history books.

Seven months ago, Dr. Spence Misner started using an experimental procedure so that he would not have to amputate his patient's foot -- and it worked.

Bobby Rice, 50, cut his foot on glass last summer. He used super glue and bandaged it up. Weeks ago, it was infected. He was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis – the same bacteria that 24-year-old Aimee Copeland is battling.

Dr. Misner said that in November, he performed a stem-cell transplant procedure using placenta membrane, which contained growth factors and stem cells to help heal and repair Rice's foot.

"When it was in contact with skin, it allowed skin to grow. When it was with fat, it allowed fat to grow. It also helped to regenerate his nerves to the point where Bobby is now ticklish. Before, he was totally neuropathic, meaning he was totally numb," said Misner.

Seven months later, Rice is standing and moving using a walker.

"That's the reason why I'm still here, to show people that this is real and it's not like what they think about stem cells. It's something good," said Rice.

A WOMAN who received the UK’s first corneal stem cell transplant today told how her son’s struggle with a hereditary eye condition inspired her to try the treatment.

Sylvia Paton, 50, from Corstorphine, was the first person in the country to undergo the ground-breaking treatment when she had surgery in February.

It is hoped that the transplant will reduce the vision problems she suffers as a result of the eye condition aniridia, in which sufferers are born with no iris in their eye. As a result they are not able to adjust the size of their pupil to protect the eye from bright light and the cornea becomes damaged....

Scientists have always been fascinated by the power of some organisms to regenerate whole body parts. One flatworm, called the planarian, is so good at regeneration that it can be cut up in several pieces and each of those pieces will generate a whole new worm. That regenerative power comes from stem cells that can become the cells that are needed for replacement. Which is why stem cell scientists study the planarian as a model.

The dream has been that harnessing the power of stem cells, humans could have this regenerative power to repair damaged limbs or organs as well. And scientists made a step toward that goal by growing a blood vessel in a little girl who needed one using stem cells from her own bone marrow.

Angela Irizarry was born with one functioning ventricle in her heart. It is a congenital condition called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. The ventricle is the chamber that pumps blood from the heart. The right ventricle pumps blood to the lungs. The left ventricle pumps the oxygen rich blood from the lungs to the body. In hypoplastic left heart syndrome, the one working ventricle had to pump blood not just to the lungs but to the rest of the body. Over time that causes strain on the right side of the heart.

Angela needed a new blood vessel to route blood from her lower body directly to her lungs to improve the oxygenation in her blood and allow the right ventricle to pump blood just to the body. Doctors grew one inside Angela’s body with her own stem cells.

Continue reading at LifeNews >>>

On the feast of St. Valentine, a story about broken hearts is in order.  These broken hearts are not the result of unrequited love but instead due to heart disease.

In a ground-breaking study that may change how heart attacks are treated, Dr. Eduardo Marban and his team used stem cells to re-grow damaged heart muscle.  In the 17 patients who received the therapy, Marban measured an average 50 percent reduction in the size of the scar tissue

“One of the holy grails in medicine has been the use of medicine to achieve regeneration,” Marban said.  “Patients that were treated not only experienced shrinkage of their scars, but also new growth of their heart muscle, which is very exciting.”

The stem cells were not derived from embryos, but instead were developed from the patients’ own hearts.  Marban’s team inserted a catheter into the diseased hearts and took a small biopsy of muscle.  In the laboratory, the tissue was manipulated into producing stem cells.  After a few weeks of marinating in culture, researchers had enough stem cells to re-inject them into the patients’ hearts.  Over the course of a year, the stem cells took root in cardiac tissue, encouraging the heart to create new muscle and blood vessels.  In other words, the heart actually began to mend itself.

“I come from a culture that’s deeply Catholic,” said Eduardo Marban, who came to the United States from Cuba with his parents when he was 6 years old. “For me, that we could develop a treatment that was not ethically problematic, that was consistent with the Hippocratic Oath and the tenets of Catholicism, was very gratifying. We not only get a unique chance to do good, but we do it without trampling on anyone’s ethical principles.”

Linda Marban’s faith also threads throughout her life as a scientist.

“I am a strongly believing and practicing Catholic,” she said. “When I believe in God the most is when I look at a chart of cell signaling. When you see all those millions and billions of processes that we don’t even begin to really understand, there is no way some higher power didn’t generate that.”

Type 1 diabetes is caused by the body's own immune system attacking its pancreatic islet beta cells and requires daily injections of insulin to regulate the patient's blood glucose levels. A new method described in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine uses stem cells from cord blood to re-educate a diabetic's own T cells and consequently restart pancreatic function reducing the need for insulin.

Stem Cell Educator therapy slowly passes lymphocytes separated from a patient's blood over immobilized cord blood stem cells (CBSC) from healthy donors. After two to three hours in the device the re-educated lymphocytes are returned to the patient. The progress of the patients was checked at 4, 12, 24 and 40 weeks after therapy.

C-peptide is a protein fragment made as a by-product of insulin manufacture and can be used to determine how well beta cells are working. By 12 weeks after treatment all the patients who received the therapy had improved levels of C –peptide. This continued to improve at 24 weeks and was maintained to the end of the study. This meant that the daily dose of insulin required to maintain their blood glucose levels could be reduced. In accordance with these results the glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) indicator of long term glucose control also dropped for people receiving the treatment, but not the control group.

Photo of epidermolysis bullosa from SockMonkeyClothing.com a clothing retailer for children with skin disorders

A another adult stem cell success story is about a young boy with epidermolysis bullosa or EB. (Hat tip to Don Margolis.)  EB is a painful and debilitating skin disorder where the skin blisters and tears at the slightest touch.  EB is especially interesting to me because I have friends who have two sons with this condition.  A year ago, Charlie Knuth received an adult stem cell bone marrow transplant and is doing so well that his parents are adopting another child with EB. From The Post Crescent:

The lesions that once blanketed Charlie's small frame have largely receded. Just a few patches of fragile skin remain, and those are carefully wrapped with bandages that once entombed most of Charlie's body....

Charlie's remarkable progress has prompted the Knuths to adopt another child who suffers from the same severe form of EB that has shaped Charlie's life. Trisha Knuth will travel to Washington next week to meet 6-year-old Seth.

"(Seth) is in a group home and he has never had a family," Trisha Knuth said. "He's in pretty bad shape."

She said the outpouring of community support her family received during Charlie's journey has prepared the family as they enter a new chapter with Seth.

Dr. Peter Hollands is a researcher at the University of Westminster in London and he attended the Vatican sponsored conference on stem cell research held in November.  He gave an interview with the National Catholic Reporter where he illustrated the practical reasons everyone can oppose embryonic stem cell research.  In essence, the old adage, "Work smarter, not harder."  Hollands responds to the NCR's question on why researchers want to work with embryonic stem cells:

I don’t know if there’s anything to learn from embryonic stem cells, but it’s the objections to their use [that’s the problem].

We could grow potatoes on the moon; we could send up water, soil and seeds. We could set it up, grow potatoes, and it would work. But why do that when you’ve got something which is so much easier, and you’re able to grow them in a field?

That’s the difference between adult and embryonic — the technology is already there.

Newer and safer forms of stem cell therapy will likely overtake research into the use of human embryonic stem cells, the scientist whose team cloned Dolly the sheep told his peers at a stem cell conference in La Jolla.

Direct "reprogramming" of adult cells into the type needed for therapy is gradually becoming a reality, Ian Wilmut told an audience of several hundred at the Salk Institute at the annual Stem Cell Meeting on the Mesa. Such a feat was once thought impossible, but in recent years it has been demonstrated in at least two publications, he said.

These reprogrammed cells appear likely to provide the anticipated benefits of embryonic stem cells without their risks, such as forming tumors....

The emergence of direct reprogramming provides a promising new option scientists should consider, Wilmut said.

"I'm not quite sure why this hasn't been pursued more actively," Wilmut said.

The following are excerpts from Pope Benedict XVI's speech to the adult stem cell conference held in Rome last week.  From TheCatholicSpirit.com:

“Since human beings are endowed with immortal souls and are created in the image and likeness of God, there are dimensions of human existence that lie beyond the limits of what the natural sciences are competent to determine. If these limits are transgressed, there is a serious risk that the unique dignity and inviolability of human life could be subordinated to purely utilitarian considerations. But if instead these limits are duly respected, science can make a truly remarkable contribution to promoting and safeguarding the dignity of man.”

“In this sense, the potential benefits of adult stem cell research are very considerable, since it opens up possibilities for healing chronic degenerative illnesses by repairing damaged tissue. . . . The improvement that such therapies promise would constitute a significant step forward in medical science, bringing fresh hope to sufferers and their families alike. For this reason, the Church naturally offers her encouragement to those who are engaged in conducting and supporting research of this kind, always with the proviso that it be carried out with due regard for the integral good of the human person and the common good of society.

“This proviso is most important. The pragmatic mentality that so often influences decision-making in the world today is all too ready to sanction whatever means are available in order to attain the desired end, despite ample evidence of the disastrous consequences of such thinking. When the end in view is one so eminently desirable as the discovery of a cure for degenerative illnesses, it is tempting for scientists and policy-makers to brush aside ethical objections and to press ahead with whatever research seems to offer the prospect of a breakthrough. Those who advocate research on embryonic stem cells in the hope of achieving such a result make the grave mistake of denying the inalienable right to life of all human beings from the moment of conception to natural death. The destruction of even one human life can never be justified in terms of the benefit that it might conceivably bring to another.

“Yet, in general, no such ethical problems arise when stem cells are taken from the tissues of an adult organism, from the blood of the umbilical cord at the moment of birth.”

“Dialogue between science and ethics is of the greatest importance in order to ensure that medical advances are never made at unacceptable human cost. The Church contributes to this dialogue by helping to form consciences in accordance with right reason and in the light of revealed truth. In so doing she seeks, not to impede scientific progress, but on the contrary to guide it in a direction that is truly fruitful and beneficial to humanity, . . . with a particular regard for the weakest and most vulnerable.

“In drawing attention to the needs of the defenceless, the Church thinks not only of the unborn but also of those without easy access to expensive medical treatment. . . . Justice demands that every effort be made to place the fruits of scientific research at the disposal of all who stand to benefit from them, irrespective of their means. . . . Here the Church is able to offer concrete assistance through her extensive healthcare apostolate, active in so many countries across the globe and directed with particular solicitude to the needs of the world’s poor.”

“I pray that your commitment to adult stem cell research will bring great blessings for the future of man”.

International Conference Adult Stem Cells: Science and the Future of Man and Culture

I posted yesterday about the Vatican's new collaboration with NeoStem to promote adult stem cell research.   One of the projects is a stem cell conference in Rome.  It is by invitation only and there are only 350 seats and guess what?  One of the readers of this blog is attending!  (You cannot see my face but it is a unbecoming shade of green! )

Please visit John at The World and the Word for updates on the conference taking place November 9-11.

Stem for Life Foundation: Collaboration between NeoStem and the Catholic Church

The Vatican is putting its money where its mouth is, to the tune of $1 million and collaborating with a New York adult stem cell company NeoStem.  The Church is not investing in the company by buying stocks, which some have suggested is the real motive: profit. Instead the Church is giving money for starting a non-profit organization focused on fund raising, education and putting on an adult stem cell conference in Rome.  From the LA Times:

...the Vatican recently signed a $1-million compact with [Dr. Robin] Smith's New York company, NeoStem, to collaborate on adult stem cell education and research.

The partners will hold a conference in Rome in November that is expected to attract some of the world's leading experts on adult stem cells, the less controversial cousins of embryonic stem cells.

Smith, who was in Southern California recently for a stem cell conference in Pasadena, was quick to emphasize that the Vatican is not investing in her company, which is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Most of the collaboration will involve a nonprofit company established by NeoStem, the Stem for Life Foundation, she said. The Vatican's role will include fundraising, launching educational campaigns, contributing to research and sponsoring the Rome conference, Smith said.

The partnership is rare, perhaps unprecedented. "It is unusual, " said Father Tomasz Trafny, the Vatican's point man on the deal. "Never in history [have] we entered into such [a] collaboration."

Trafny, a Polish-born priest who heads a science and theology unit within the Pontifical Council for Culture, said the church decided to collaborate with NeoStem for two reasons.

"First, they have a strong interest in … searching for the cultural impact of their own work, which is very unusual," he said. "Many companies will look at the profit and only at the profit.

"And the second, of course, is that they share the same moral, ethical sensitivity.... Because of that ethical position, we entered into this unique collaboration."

The Stem for Life Foundation (SFLF) is a nonpartisan 501(c)3 organization established to increase public education in all areas of adult stem cell research and application, to encourage and support the field of research involving adult stem cells, and to provide medicine’s most-vulnerable populations with access to cutting-edge adult stem cell technologies.

All initiatives will aim at providing information, teaching and research regarding important issues of human health and of the present and future of medical progress in relation to adult stem cell research and with respect to the great value of human life. NeoStem and the Pontifical Council for Culture, through their collaboration, aspire to reach religious leaders and academicians working in the Pontifical and Catholic Institutions but also to extend their work and results to different institutions beyond the Catholic environment.

The United States has arguably the most advanced health care in the world.  Which is why I was surprised at how many Americans are going abroad for stem cell treatments using their own adult stem cells.  This is called an autologous stem cell transplant.  I read nearly everyday about patients going to China, India and Germany to get treated for anything from spinal cord injuries to autism.  It has even been reported that Peyton Manning went to Europe recently to get a stem cell treatment for his neck.  I also have read about patients who reside in these countries getting treatments for brain injury to type II diabetes with impressive results.  The Repair Stem Cell Institute which refers patients to what they say are reputable stem cell treatment centers around the world has a list of diseases being treated with autologous stem cell transplants that is a mile long.

Remember, these are not cures, but therapies aimed at improving the symptoms of the disease and the quality of life for the patient.  It is also important to point out that these are not the stem cell treatments that have recently been in the news where patients have received stem cells from embryos or fetuses.  These are stem cell transplants using a patient's own stem cells.

So why is this autologous stem cell tourism happening?  Many ask why are these treatments not available in the United States?  It is often wrongly suggested that it has to do with Bush's restrictions on the funding of embryonic stem cell research.  It has absolutely nothing to do with that because these are autologous adult stem cell transplants.  In reality, unlike the United States, most industrialized nations have some kind of legislation that protects embryos from being created and destroyed for research. 

The real answer is simple: because of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or FDA.  The FDA has categorized an autologous stem cell transplant as it would a drug and therefore autologous stem cell transplants must go through the same rigorous phase trials that a new drug would.  From the FDA Regulation of Stem-Cell–Based Therapies in the New England Journal of Medicine:

 Any stem-cell–based product that contains cells or tissues that "are highly processed, are used for other than their normal function, are combined with non-tissue components, or are used for metabolic purposes" — and that includes most, if not all, of them — would also be subject to the Public Health Safety Act, Section 351, which regulates the licensing of biologic products and requires the submission of an investigational new drug application to the FDA before studies involving humans are initiated.

So because stem cells would be removed from the body and "processed" with components not from the patient to get them to grow, the FDA has ruled that an autologous stem cell transplant is like a drug. 

Of course, there are those who disagree with this assessment basically taking the stance that because the stem cells come from the patient, they should not be considered a drug. From a press release from the former American Stem Cell Therapy Association (ASCTA) which changed its name to The International Cellular Medicine Society (ICMS):

"Many patients are dying or suffering daily with incurable diseases or problems that require major surgery. These patients should have access to basic adult stem cell therapy now." stated Christopher J. Centeno, M.D, an ASCTA physician member. "ASCTA is establishing guidelines which will allow the safe use of the patient's own adult stem cells under the supervision of doctors." continued Centeno. Another ASCTA physician member, Frank Falco, M.D. stated, "The FDA's position against someone using their own stem cells is taking it too far. We are talking about a person using their own tissue to treat a degenerative disorder or process safely without the use of medications or surgery. Although we agree that oversight and standards are necessary, this should be provided through a physician organization such as ASCTA rather than by a government agency."

Adult stem cell therapy requires that stem cells be harvested, then grown in a lab to sufficient quantities to allow for reinjection.  This is called culturing.  Scottish scientists had created a surface with tiny pits that allow adult stem cells to culture more effectively.  From BBC News:

A new plastic surface which overcomes the difficulties associated with growing adult stem cells has been developed, according to scientists....

The new "nano-patterned" surface was created using a manufacturing process similar to that used to make Blu-ray discs.

The surface is covered with tiny pits, which the researchers said made it more effective in allowing stem cells to grow and spread into useful cells for therapy....

The process of culturing is made difficult because stem cells grown on standard plastic tissue culture surfaces do not always expand to create new stem cells but instead create other cells which are of no use in therapy.

Stem cell expansion can be boosted by immersing the cells in chemical solutions, but the scientists said these methods were limited in their effectiveness....

Mr Dalby said: "This new nano-structured surface can be used to very effectively culture mesencyhmal stem cells, taken from sources such as bone marrow, which can then be put to use in musculoskeletal, orthopaedic and connective tissues.

"If the same process can be used to culture other types of stem cells too - and this research is under way in our labs - our technology could be the first step on the road to developing large-scale stem cell culture factories, which would allow for the creation of a wide range of therapies for many common diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease."

From the Catholic Sentinel:

LOS ANGELES — Dr. Eduardo Marban, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles, and his wife Linda Marban, research manager for Cedars-Sinai’s Board of Governors Heart Stem Cell Center, are blazing a new trail in adult cardiac stem-cell research.

In a first-ever clinical trial, a small sample of a patient’s own heart tissue is used to grow specialized heart stem cells. The stem cells are then injected back into the patient’s heart in an effort to repair and re-grow healthy muscle in a heart that has been injured by heart attack.

The trial could start a new era of treating heart disease, which is the No. 1 killer of men and women in the United States. If cardiac regeneration is possible, then people who suffer heart attacks might be able to achieve greater post-heart-attack productivity and health and, for the most extreme cases, not require heart transplants.

The moral implications of the trial are also profound; no embryo is involved at any stage of the process.

“I come from a culture that’s deeply Catholic,” said Eduardo Marban, who came to the United States from Cuba with his parents when he was 6 years old. “For me, that we could develop a treatment that was not ethically problematic, that was consistent with the Hippocratic Oath and the tenets of Catholicism, was very gratifying. We not only get a unique chance to do good, but we do it without trampling on anyone’s ethical principles.”

Linda Marban’s faith also threads throughout her life as a scientist.

“I am a strongly believing and practicing Catholic,” she said. “When I believe in God the most is when I look at a chart of cell signaling. When you see all those millions and billions of processes that we don’t even begin to really understand, there is no way some higher power didn’t generate that.”

Eduardo Marban holds a medical degree and doctorate from Yale. Before coming to Cedars-Sinai, he spent 25 years at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, where he served as chief of cardiology. His numerous discoveries include developing some techniques used in his current cardiac stem-cell work.

Linda Marban received her doctorate in cardiac physiology from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. During her graduate studies, she learned of Eduardo Marban’s work. After earning her degree, she was hired by him as a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins.

This is very interesting.  Researchers in Minnesota have grown a human heart from adult stem cells.  Hear that Minnesota?  No cloning was used.  As far as I can see not one Minnesota newspaper has picked up this story.  Here is a tip: spend less time arguing about SCNT and more time talking about and supporting this kind of research.  From The Daily Mail:

Scientists are growing human hearts in laboratories, offering hope for millions of cardiac patients.

American researchers believe the artificial organs could start beating within weeks.

The experiment is a major step towards the first ‘grow-your-own’ heart, and could pave the way for  livers, lungs or kidneys to be made  to order.

The organs were created by removing muscle cells from donor organs to leave behind tough hearts of connective tissue.

Researchers then injected stem cells which multiplied and grew around the structure, eventually turning into healthy heart cells.

Dr Doris Taylor, an expert in regenerative medicine at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, said: ‘The hearts are growing, and we hope they will show signs of beating within the next weeks.

‘There are many hurdles to overcome to generate a fully functioning heart, but my prediction is that it may one day be possible to grow entire organs for transplant.’

Patients given normal heart transplants must take drugs to suppress their immune systems for the rest of their lives.

This can increase the risk of high blood pressure, kidney failure and diabetes.

If new hearts could be made using a patient’s own stem cells, it is less likely they would be rejected.

Hat Tip: FRC

From New American:

The Vatican will help fund a research study into the potential use of adult stem cells to treat intestinal and possibly other diseases, officials announced April 23. The research study, now in a preliminary stage, is being carried out by a group of American and Italian scientists led by the University of Maryland's School of Medicine.

The university said that the Vatican had already agreed to donate 2 million euros ($2.7 million) for the project. Cardinal Renato Martino said the exact amount would be decided in future meetings.

The Vatican views adult stem-cell research as a viable alternative to embryonic stem-cell research. The Catholic Church is opposed to embryonic stem-cell research because, unlike adult stem-cell research, it involves the destruction of human life (embryos).

Cardinal Martino said the adult stem-cell research project enjoys Vatican support due to its respect for the life of the embryo. "This research protects life," the Cardinal asserted during a meeting with Italian and American scientists and health officials to outline the project. "I want to stress that it doesn’t involve embryonic stem cells, where one helps oneself and then throws the embryo away and kills a human life."

From the AIDS Beacon:

Long touted as a potentially powerful weapon against HIV, stem cell therapy may be moving one step closer to reality. Researchers may soon begin using stem cell therapy in clinical trials for patients not responding to antiretroviral drugs (see related AIDS Beacon news)....

Meant for individuals no longer responding to the traditional regimen of antivirals, Berkhout’s proposed stem cell therapy holds promise for long-term, effective results after a single treatment.

“This therapy would offer an alternative for HIV-infected patients that can no longer be treated with regular antivirals,” said Professor Berkhout in a press release. Instead, the patient’s own immune system would battle the virus....

To battle HIV, the proposed stem cell therapy involves harvesting the patient’s own stem cells from the bone marrow. After extracting the cells, doctors purify them, insert antiviral DNA into the cells, and reintroduce them back into the patient.

Once back inside the patient, the cells’ new antiviral DNA goes to work interfering with HIV’s DNA and hindering the virus’ ability to reproduce itself.

If the therapy is successful, then the antiviral DNA is passed to every generation of immune cells born from the modified stem cells, which means only one treatment would be necessary....

Researchers are now seriously looking at stem cells as a potential avenue to a cure – a way of freeing HIV patients from the burden of a lifetime of medications to manage the disease – as a growing body of research is developing around this topic (see the related article in The Body).

Berkhout’s research team hopes to begin clinical trials within three years. “So far, very promising results have been obtained in the laboratory, and we are now testing the safety and efficacy in a pre-clinical mouse model,” said Professor Berkhout.

From the BBC News:

A 10-year-old British boy has become the first child to undergo a windpipe transplant with an organ crafted from his own stem cells.

It is hoped that using the boy's own tissue in the nine-hour operation at Great Ormond Street Hospital will cut the risk of rejection.

The world's first tissue-engineered windpipe transplant was done in Spain in 2008 but with a shorter graft.

Doctors say the boy is doing well and breathing normally.

He has a rare condition called Long Segment Congenital Tracheal Stenosis, in which patients are born with an extremely narrow airway.

"It is the first time a child has received stem cell organ treatment, and it's the longest airway that has ever been replaced."
Professor Martin Birchall, University College London

At birth his airway was just one millimetre across.

Doctors had previously operated to expand his airway but in November last year he suffered complications from erosion of a metal stent in his windpipe or trachea.

In order to build him a new airway, doctors took a donor trachea, stripped it down to the collagen scaffolding, and then injected stem cells taken from his bone marrow.

The organ was then implanted in the boy and over the next month, doctors expect the stem cells to transform into specialised cells which form the inside and outside of the trachea.

What an achievement!  But underneath is something else I want to point out.  This technique was pioneered by an Italian researcher, Dr. Paolo Macchiarini, who worked on this case and 2 others.  From the University College London website:

Professor Macchiarini's seminal work, together with the UCL team, has now saved the life of two adults and one child. We have shown that stem cell-based treatments can save lives and can be used in the creation of living structures which draw upon the body's own natural healing mechanisms for their support.

"The step-wise progression in technique from first patient to the present has delivered a highly streamlined, rapid process. This means that such treatments potentially can be moved out of the hands of a tiny number of specialist centres into many hospitals around the world, including those in developing countries."

As in Germany, where Americans are going for adult stem cell treatments not available in the United States, research on embryos is prohibited in Italy.  Is it simply coincidence that Dr. Macchiarini, who is saving lives now with adult stem cells, comes from a country that does not allow research on embryos?  Possibly.  But what if Italy did allow research on embryos?  Would Dr. Macchiarini be putting all of his efforts instead on destroying early human life with no real clinical benefit in sight?  Instead of using his considerable talents to wield adult stem cells and treat patients now, could he instead be playing with human life in a dish?

I cannot help but wonder how much farther ahead in treating patients with adult stem cells the U.S. would be if we did not allow our scientists to conduct research on human embryos.