bioethics.net News Update - Stem Cell Research

Stem Cells Show Size-Specific Reaction to Nanopatterns

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:07:06 EDT

Scientists in Germany have found that surface topography can be more important than chemistry for stem cells. Patrik Schmuki of the Frederich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, and colleagues looked at how stem cells behave on nanotube-coated surfaces and found that they show a size-specific reaction to the nanopatterns. The researchers propose that nanopatterned surfaces could have potential applications in tissue engineering and in medical implants, such as replacement hips. Schmuki suggests that decorating implant surfaces with patterns on a similar scale to cells (around 10 micrometres) may improve the implant's integration into the body.

Embryonic Stem Cells - and Other Stem Cells - Promise to Advance Treatments

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:59:59 EDT

For Thomas Clegg, the Obama administration's decision in March to lift certain restrictions on government funding of stem cell research was beside the point. The 58-year-old congestive heart failure patient had received an experimental stem cell therapy before the new president even took office. In November, researchers at Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center in Houston removed some of Clegg's bone marrow and sent it off to a lab, where the best and hardiest of its stem cells were extracted and concentrated. Less than a month after Obama's historic election, those cells were injected directly into Clegg's heart, where the researchers hope they will spark healing and regeneration.

Bioethicists Lead Call for Public Debates on Future Uses of Stem Cells

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:18:24 EDT

More than 40 scientists, bioethicists, lawyers and science journal editors are calling on their colleagues, policy makers and the public to begin developing guidelines for the research and reproductive use of stem cell-derived eggs and sperm, even though such use may be a decade or more away. "Science has always moved faster than social debate or society's ability to grapple with these issues," says Debra Mathews, Ph.D., lead author of a paper published in the July issue of Cell Stem Cell and assistant director of science programs at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. The paper calls for all parties to begin engaging in open discussion and debates, and describes the need for informed social policy well in advance of the eventual use of eggs and sperm derived from pluripotent stem cells.

U.S. Doctors Treat Heart Attack with Man's Own Stem Cells

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:38:51 EDT

American physicians say they've performed the first procedure in which a patient received injections of his own heart stem cells to repair heart attack damage. The 39-year-old man is the first of 16 people who will undergo the procedure as part of a phase 1 clinical trial being conducted at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles. Another eight people will act as controls. All of the participants have damage and scarring from heart attacks that occurred within four weeks before their enrollment in the study. They will be monitored for six months after the procedure, and the results are to be released in late 2010.

Geron to Provide Stem Cells to GE Unit

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:47:15 EDT

Biotech company Geron Corp. agreed to provide stem cells to General Electric Co.'s GE Healthcare for use in tools that will test for the toxic effects of drug treatments, a move that takes GE further into stem-cell research. The agreement marks the first time that a company of GE's stature and size has announced a business venture involving the controversial field of embryonic stem cells. That could reflect a more tolerant climate for the technology in the wake of the Obama administration's recent relaxation of restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research.

Heart Stem Cells from Human Embryo "Hot Spot" May Fix Damage

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:45:42 EDT

Stem cells found in the forming hearts of human embryos may help doctors repair damaged organs and understand life-threatening birth defects, Harvard University scientists said. The stem cells, called Isl1, which appear three weeks into an embryo�s development, can become any of the three major types of heart tissue, researchers led by Kenneth Chien, director of the cardiovascular disease program at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute said today in the journal Nature. The cells are found in a �hot spot� where heart birth defects occur, suggesting they may play a pivotal role in these conditions, he said.

Fixing the Heart with Stem Cells

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:30:50 EDT

In a heart attack, the blood supply to part of the heart is shut off by a clot in a clogged artery - causing scarring of the heart muscle, which reduces the ability of the heart to pump. The best that doctors have been able to do is to promptly open up the clogged artery and limit the damage with drugs. But one day, there may be a way to get that damaged heart to grow its own brand-new muscle tissue. How? By using the patient's own cardiac stem cells. This week doctors in Los Angeles have given a heart attack patient an infusion of stem cells grown from his own heart muscle.

Adult Stem Cells May Cure the Ailing Heart in Congestive Heart Failure

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:45:08 EDT

It may represent results from only one patient, but cardiologists are taking heart with the positive results of adult stem cell therapy for congestive heart failure, a debilitating and common disease in which the heart�s ability to pump blood is impaired. The clinical study is a collaboration among physicians of the American Stem cell company, Regenocyte Therapeutic, researchers at the Israeli biotechnology company Theravitae, and physicians from the American Institute for Regenerate Medicine, Dominican Republic.

Controversial Cancer Stem Cells Offer New Direction for Treatment

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:48:51 EDT

In a review in Science, a University of Rochester Medical Center researcher sorts out the controversy and promise around a dangerous subtype of cancer cells, known as cancer stem cells, which seem capable of resisting many modern treatments. The article proposes that this subpopulation of malignant cells may one day provide an important avenue for controlling cancer, especially if new treatments that target the cancer stem cell are developed and combined with traditional chemotherapy and/or radiation.

New York State Allows Payment for Egg Donations for Research

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:09:00 EDT

Stem cell researchers in New York can now use public money to pay women who give their eggs for research, a decision that has opened new possibilities for science but raised concern among some bioethicists and opponents of such research. The decision by the Empire State Stem Cell Board, announced two weeks ago, is believed by the board to be the first in the country allowing state research money to be used for this purpose. The board agreed that women can receive up to $10,000 for donating eggs, a painful and sometimes risky process.

South Korea to Lift 3-year Ban on Human Stem Cell Research; Catholic Group Decries Decision

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:53:32 EDT

South Korea will lift a three-year ban on human stem cell research, a presidential advisory committee announced Wednesday. The government outlawed research in 2006 following a scandal involving disgraced cloning expert Hwang Woo-suk, who claimed to have created stem cells from cloned human embryos. Hwang scandalized the international scientific community when it emerged that scientific papers outlining his claim relied on faked data. Hwang, at the time the only South Korean scientist permitted to conduct human stem cell research, was stripped of the license to carry out the controversial studies.

Hysterectomies a Stem Cell Source

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:33:36 EDT

Discarded fallopian tubes from hysterectomies could be a good source of donor stem cells, say researchers. Work shows they are an abundant source of the immature cells that have the potential to become a variety of the body's tissues, like muscle and bone. The discovery offers another "ethical" route to creating stem cell treatments for diseases like arthritis without using embryos. The findings are published in The Journal of Translational Medicine. Experts have already shown that getting mesenchymal stem cells from umbilical cords, menstrual blood, teeth and fat tissue is viable.

Stem cell transplant helps 8-year-old beat cancer

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:18:27 EDT

Eight-year-old Paramita Aich spent her days dancing, attending school and playing hopscotch till she was detected with cancer a year ago. What followed was her long and painful stay in hospital. On Thursday, as she returned home from a city-based cancer institute, she was smiling once again. Thanks to a team of doctors, which successfully conducted stem cell transplantation on her, Paramita is once again hopeful of leading a normal life like others of her age.

Canadians make stem-cell breakthrough

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:20:17 EDT

Canadian researchers have discovered a new way to turn skin cells into stem cells with fewer potential risks to patients. Their work seems to remove major barriers to using stem cells, which have an endless capacity for self-renewal, in new medical therapies for people with spinal cord injuries or diseases such as diabetes or Parkinson's.

California Stem Cell Chief Seeks Trials in Four Years

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:48:15 EDT

California�s $3 billion stem-cell funding agency wants to get 10 to 12 new therapies into human testing within four years, said the agency�s president, Alan Trounson. In December, the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine plans to award grants of about $20 million each to 10 or 12 teams, with the goal of starting clinical trials within four years, Trounson said today in an interview. Most or all of the teams will include biotechnology companies, he said.