Jolie Rouge

http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/

Stem Cell Basics

Stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body. Serving as a sort of repair system for the body, they can theoretically divide without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive. When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the potential to either remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell.

This document covers basic information about stem cells. For a more detailed discussion, see Stem Cells: Scientific Progress and Future Research Directions. Or you can check our Frequently Asked Questions page for quick answers to specific queries.

Throughout Stem Cell Basics, the first reference to a Glossary term on a page appears in bold, underlined maroon type. Clicking on the term will open its definition from the Glossary page in a new window.



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AAAS/ICS REPORT ON STEM CELL RESEARCH


In the face of extraordinary advances in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of human diseases, devastating illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and diseases of the nervous system, such as Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease, continue to deprive people of health, independence, and well-being. Research in human developmental biology has led to the discovery of human stem cells (precursor cells that can give rise to multiple tissue types), including embryonic stem (ES) cells, embryonic germ (EG) cells, fetal stem cells, and adult stem cells. Recently, techniques have been developed for the in vitro culture of stem cells, providing unprecedented opportunities for studying and understanding human embryology. As a result, scientists can now carry out experiments aimed at determining the mechanisms underlying the conversion of a single, undifferentiated cell, the fertilized egg, into the different cells comprising the organs and tissues of the human body. Although it is impossible to predict the outcomes, scientists and the public will gain immense new knowledge in the biology of human development that will likely hold remarkable potential for therapies and cures.

Derivation of ES cells from early human embryos, and EG and fetal stem cells from aborted, fetal tissues raise ethical, legal, religious, and policy questions. Further, the potential uses of stem cells for generating human tissues and, perhaps, organs, is a subject of ongoing public debate.

Taking all the above matters into account, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Institute for Civil Society decided to undertake a study in order to propose recommendations for conducting stem cell research. To do so, we assembled a working group with broad expertise and diverse views to advise us and to assist with preparing a report. This study and the recommendations flowing from it were informed by the values of the members of this advisory group, as well as reports and recommendations of other groups in the United States and elsewhere that have reflected on the issues involved. These values include belief in the promotion of patient welfare and the social good, scientific freedom and responsibility, self-determination, encouragement of civic discourse, public accountability of scientists and research institutions, and respect for diverse religious, philosophical, and secular belief systems.

AAAS and ICS recognize that there are varied social, political, ethical, and religious viewpoints to be considered in discussions about the scientific use of tissue from human embryos and fetuses. Scientists do not presume to know all the answers and ramifications of basic research in human stem cells. Therefore, it is important to promote continued dialogue among all segments of society concerning the implications of stem cell research.

AAAS and ICS are committed to fostering an ongoing educational process that informs such public dialogue. As part of this effort, we convened a public meeting in Washington, DC on August 25, 1999, at which time a summary of our findings was publicly presented and discussed.

The complete report of the AAAS/ICS study is available here in PDF format.

www.aaas.org/spp/sfrl/projects/stem/main.htm

{{ Stem Cell Main Page
AAAS/ICS Stem Cell Report
Findings and Recommendations of the AAAS/ICS Report
AAAS/ICS Public Forum Agenda
NBAC Report
Program in Scientific Freedom, Responsibility & Law Main Page
Dialogue on Science, Ethics and Religion Program
For additional information on Stem Cells, please check the AAAS Center for Science, Technology&Congress site.
****

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Jolie Rouge

Stem-cell debate complicated
Science, ethics color opposing views on research for cures.
Gannett News Service

http://www.detnews.com/2004/politics...a06-276704.htm

Question: Why is there objection to embryonic stem-cell research if it could possibly benefit victims of debilitating diseases?

Answer: Ethics, morals, religious thought and international law complicate the issue.

Unlike adult stem cells, which are safely extracted from living people, embryonic stem-cell research relies on the destruction of a dot-sized mass of human cells. If implanted in a woman and allowed to grow, these cells could develop into a fetus' liver, kidneys, eyes, muscles and all other organs and tissue that comprise the body.

Opponents of the research say it violates existing international law, such as the 1949 Nuremberg Code, which prohibits experimental research on subjects without their informed consent; and the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki, which says considerations related to the well-being of the human subject take precedence over the interests of science and society.

"There are many scientific questions we may never know the answers to simply because the research that is necessary is amoral," said Cindy Province, associate director of the nonprofit St. Louis Center for Bioethics and Culture.

Ruth R. Faden, a professor of biomedical ethics at Johns Hopkins University, said international law applies only to established world citizens.

"If you believe a five-day old embryo warrants full membership and rights and the full respect that humans are entitled to, then not only do Helsinki and Nuremberg apply, but the (U.S.) Constitution applies," said Faden, director of Hopkins' Berman Bioethics Institute. "Others of us don't believe that."

Q: Why not just use adult stem cells for research?

A: Scientists consider embryonic stem cells the gold standard for stem-cell research because the budding cells are unformed and can differentiate into any type of human cell or tissue. As stem cells mature, they multiply and divide into cells specialized for bones, blood or kidneys and such. Embryonic cells are valued for their flexibility.

According to the National Institutes of Health, embryonic stem cells are "pluripotent," meaning they are able to give rise to cells found in all tissues of the embryo except for germ cells. Adult stem cells are considered "multipotent," meaning they are restricted in what they become.

Q: What is an embryonic stem-cell line?

A: It's the family of cells dissected and isolated from an embryo, then cultured to divide continuously and differentiate into various types of cells.

Q: How are embryonic stem cells administered?

A: No human tests have been done. In lab tests, these cells have been injected into mice or rats that have acute spinal cord injuries. Doses of these cells can be frozen and shipped.

Q: Can state governments fund embryonic stem-cell research with no restrictions?

A: Yes. Various state governments are considering bills that condone, endorse or even fund embryonic stem-cell research.

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Jolie Rouge

Bush did NOT "BAN" Stem Cell Research -- he cut federal funding to all but existing lines.

If we were to apply the Democratic standard used here, we could say that Kerry "banned" battle armour for our troops by voting against funding to supply our soldiers in Iraq.

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Jolie Rouge

Bumping ...

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Jolie Rouge

Studies: Cord Blood Works Vs. Leukemia
By JANET McCONNAUGHEY

Umbilical-cord blood, now used mostly to treat children with leukemia, could save thousands of adults with the disease each year who cannot find bone marrow donors, two big studies indicate.

A European study found that those who got cord blood were just as likely to be free of leukemia two years later as those who got marrow. A U.S. study looking at three-year survival yielded results almost as promising.

To Dr. Mary Horowitz of the Medical College of Wisconsin, senior author of the U.S. study, the message is clear: Umbilical cord blood can save adults.

Leukemia patients often undergo radiation or chemotherapy to kill their cancerous white blood cells - a treatment that wipes out their immune systems, too. To restore their immune systems, doctors give these patients an infusion of bone marrow or umbilical cord blood, both of which contain stem cells capable of developing into every kind of blood cell.


Cord blood offers an important advantage over marrow that makes it particularly valuable for use in transplants: Its stem cells are less likely to attack the recipient's body. That allows a wider margin of error in matching up donors and recipients.


But up to now, cord blood has been considered suitable only for children, because each donation has only about one-tenth the number of stem cells in a marrow donation.


The two new studies, published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine, suggest that is not a serious impediment.


In the European study, involving 682 patients, about one-third of both those who got matched marrow and those who got cord blood that did not quite match their own tissues were alive after two years. In the U.S. study of 601 patients, about one-third of those who got matched marrow were leukemia-free after two years, compared with about one-fifth of those who got cord blood or unmatched marrow.


Both studies were based on records from transplants in the late 1990s and early 2000s.


Using cord blood could improve the odds of getting a transplant for the 16,000 U.S. adult leukemia patients each year who cannot find a compatible marrow donor, said the U.S. study's leader, Dr. Mary J. Laughlin of Case Comprehensive Cancer Center in Cleveland.


Still, Dr. Nancy Kernan, assistant chief of marrow transplantation at Memorial-Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, said cord blood transplants in adults should be done only as part of studies to look at and improve their effectiveness.


Public cord blood banks - where blood drawn from umbilical cords and placentas at birth is kept frozen - need to quadruple their supply to find a match for every leukemia patient who needs one. With 4 million births a year in this country, and most cord blood thrown away, that should not be a problem once more public money comes into play, doctors said.


A federal Institute of Medicine committee is already looking into the best way to set up a national cord blood supply, and is scheduled to complete its report in March. ``I know our committee will consume this study avidly,'' said Kristine Gebbie, chairman of the group.


The first bone marrow transplants were done in the 1960s; cord blood transplants started in the 1990s. Stem-cell transplants save only 20 percent to 30 percent of the patients who hope to grow new immune systems. But without the treatment, virtually all of them would die.


Some researchers said techniques they have developed in the past two years, since the study ended, already have boosted their success.


Most doctors consider cord blood more appropriate for smaller people, because it contains fewer stem cells than marrow. In the two studies, cord blood recipients tended to weigh less than those who got marrow - an average of 22 pounds less in the U.S. research, about 18 in the European study.


There are two competing U.S. public cord bank systems, one holding about 38,000 vials, the other 27,000. Together, they do not add up to the supply kept by just one of the 20 or so private banks kept for paying families.


http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/sto...24.htm&sc=1500



On the Net:


http://www.parentsguidecordblood.com


http://www.marrow.org


http://www.nationalcordbloodprogram.org


http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org


http://www.cancer.org



11/24/04 20:45

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keen9801

well I just wanted to add my son had a stem cell transplant at age 5 years. They just havested his own cells and froze them then when he was ready to go through with the transplant they gave him his own cells back so they don't come from someone else that has died or not all come from embryonic cells.

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Jolie Rouge

Swiss Voters OK Stem Cell Research Law
By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS

GENEVA (AP) - Swiss voters overwhelmingly approved a law allowing stem cell research Sunday, rejecting a hard-line campaign that compared researchers to the Nazis' ``angel of death,'' Dr. Josef Mengele.

Some 66.4 percent of those polled - or 1.1 million voters - approved the law passed by the government last December. The law will take effect in March.


Opponents had called the referendum to try to overturn the legislation, even though it sets stricter limitations on research than exist elsewhere in Europe. The Swiss bill only allows the use of embryonic stem cells left over from in-vitro fertilization.

Embryonic stem cells form in the days after fertilization and can turn into any tissue of the body. Many researchers believe stem cells harvested from embryos could be used to regenerate nerve tissue or cure diseases, including Alzheimer's. But extracting stem cells from an embryo kills the embryo, which opponents say is tantamount to taking a life.

In the United States, President Bush has approved federal funding of embryonic stem cell research for only the 78 stem cell lines in existence on Aug. 9, 2001. At last count, less than two dozen of those lines are still available.

The government said the law will permit Switzerland - which has major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies - to take part in vital research. The opposition alliance, which included Roman Catholics and Protestants as well as left-wing and green groups, said the defeat was a setback for scientific ethics. ``In a few years, we will be voting on therapeutic cloning,'' said Pascale Steck of the referendum committee.

One opponent organization, Familiaplus, distributed a petition titled ``No to Dr. Nazi Mengele,'' a reference to the doctor who conducted infamous human experiments at the Auschwitz death camp during World War II.

The government said the law strictly prohibits human cloning or the creation of embryos for stem-cell research and stressed the restrictions on the research, which include a requirement for the written consent of the parents, the approval of an ethics committee and the Swiss Health Ministry for each research project.

European nations that permit stem cell research include Sweden, Finland, Greece and the Netherlands. Britain allows the creation of human embryos for stem cell procurement.


11/28/04 21:19

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/...03.htm&sc=1500

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cavemtmomma

Successes from non-embryonic stem cell research mount
Dec 1, 2004
By Tom Strode

C. Ben Mitchell


WASHINGTON (BP)--A report from South Korea of a paraplegic woman walking six weeks after undergoing a transplant with stem cells from umbilical cord blood is only part of a mounting list of successful therapies that are not dependent on destroying embryos.

On the same day Hwang Mi-Soon, 37, took steps for reporters in Seoul with the aid of a walker, American and European studies were published that showed umbilical cord blood –- and the stem cells it includes -– could save the lives of many adults with leukemia who cannot find bone marrow donors, The New York Times reported.

Meanwhile, recent reports have provided evidence in human trials of a cure for urinary incontinence using a patient’s own stem cells, as well as results in experimental research with lab animals that gave hope adult stem cells might treat heart damage, cancer and eye disease.

Stem cells are the body's master cells that can develop into other cells and tissues, building hope of treatments for numerous afflictions. They may be found in such non-embryonic sources as bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, fat and placentas. The procurement of stem cells from such sources does not harm the donor.

Extracting stem cells from a human embryo is a different matter. It results in the destruction of the embryo, which is normally about a week old.

Supporters of embryonic stem cell research claim that this line of study has the most potential for creating cures, but that is not evident in the priorities of the multi-billion-dollar biotechnology industry, which has invested many times more in adult stem cell research. Also, embryonic stem cell research has experienced multiple failures, including the worsening of Parkinson's symptoms in one human test group and a tendency to produce tumors in laboratory animals.

Research on stem cells from non-embryonic sources, meanwhile, has produced more than 40 treatments -– and the positive results keep coming in.

“These successes point to the promise of adult stem cells for therapeutic ends,” said C. Ben Mitchell, bioethics consultant for the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. “Congress should superfund adult stem cell research, making embryonic stem cell research unattractive to scientists.”

Increases in funding for such research should occur not just because the results are more promising but because of its “ethically superior” nature, Mitchell said.

“Every effort should be made to exploit these sources of stem cells,” he said. “They are uncontroversial morally, but killing embryos for their stem cells cannot be justified ethically.

“We favor the advancement of science and the development of therapies, but subjecting human embryos to vivisection is not an advance, but a digression of science into biotechnological cannibalism,” said Mitchell, associate professor of bioethics at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in suburban Chicago.

The federal government provided more than $190 million in funding for non-embryonic stem cell research in 2003, according to the White House. Meanwhile, $24.8 million was set aside the same year for embryonic stem cell research under President Bush’s policy, which permits funds only for stem cell lines in existence before he instituted the restriction in 2001.

While the federal government withholds funds for research that destroys embryos, some states are in a race to fund the practice. California’s voters approved in November a proposition that legalizes and underwrites embryonic stem cell research, as well as therapeutic cloning, with up to $3 billion in state bonds over 10 years. Advocates for embryo-destructive research in Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Illinois are promoting funding plans to keep their states from falling too far behind California.

They have no one to exhibit as a benefactor of research using embryonic stem cells, however. Advocates of non-destructive research have no such handicap. Lupus, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, Crohn’s disease and diabetes are among the ailments that have been successfully treated with non-embryonic stem cells.

Hwang Mi-Soon is one of the most recent witnesses to the power of stem cells that do no require the demise of another human being. South Korean researchers introduced her and the remarkable results Nov. 25, describing hers as the first published case of a person with a spinal cord injury to be successfully treated with stem cells from umbilical cord blood, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency reported.

“We have glimpsed at a silver lining over the horizon,” said Song Chang-Hoon, a professor at Chosun University’s medical school and a member of the research team, AFP reported. “We were all surprised at the fast improvements in the patient.”

The researchers transplanted stem cells from umbilical cord blood into the damaged part of Hwang’s spinal cord Oct. 12, according to The Korea Times. Within three weeks, she began to take steps with the aid of a walker, Song told reporters. Hwang had not walked since her legs were paralyzed in an accident 19 years before.

At the news conference, she got up from her wheelchair and shuffled a few paces with tears in her eyes, AFP reported. “This is already a miracle for me,” she said, according to AFP. “I never dreamed of getting to my feet again.”

The researchers acknowledged more research and verification is needed.

The results were similar, however, to those revealed in July in Washington, D.C., for two young American women. Susan Fajt, from Austin, Texas, and Laura Dominguez, from San Antonio, began walking with braces after receiving transplants with their own stem cells from pioneering Portuguese surgeon Carlos Lima. He transplanted stem cells from the olfactory tissue between the nose and brain to the location of the injuries to their spinal cords. Fajt was paralyzed in her lower body and Dominguez from the neck down from separate car wrecks in 2001.

In another account of a cure for paralysis, Brazilian doctors reported they used stem cells from a paralyzed woman’s bone marrow to restore quickly her ability to walk and talk, according to a Nov. 19 AFP article.

Maria da Graca Pomeceno, 54, suffered a brain hemorrhage that left her paralyzed on one side of her body, but doctors in Rio De Janeiro transplanted the stem cells five days afterward. While Han Fernando Dohmann warned tests were needed on other patients, the director of Rio De Janeiro’s Pro-Cardiaco Hospital said, according to AFP, “I would say that we have entered a new era in treating this condition.”
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Jolie Rouge

School Bus Driver Fired for Stem Cell Talk

GRAND ISLAND, N.Y. (AP) - An elementary school bus driver was fired after sharing a statistic she had read about embryonic stem cell research with students, then encouraging them to tell their parents about it.

Julianne Thompson, 42, told students in November that actor Mel Gibson had said in an article that embryonic stem cell research had not produced a single human cure in 23 years.

Some parents complained and school officials in the Buffalo suburb fired the driver. Superintendent Thomas Ramming said employees are generally told that political and religious discussions should be confined to a classroom setting where different viewpoints can be presented.


But Thompson said there is nothing in her contract that prohibits her from expressing facts or opinions. She is considering legal action, saying officials have yet to explain why her comments were inappropriate. ``I learned that free speech is definitely not free,'' Thompson said.


12/02/04 23:21

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/sto...81.htm&sc=1110

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Jolie Rouge

Calif. firm hopes to test brain stem cells at Stanford

CHICAGO (Reuters) — Shares of StemCells Inc. (STEM) rose 11% Tuesday as the company announced plans to start an early-stage clinical trial involving the use of brain stem cells to treat Batten disease, a rare but fatal genetic disease that attacks the central nervous systems of children.
The company said it has filed an application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to start the small safety study. If approved, it would be the first trial to explore the use of human neural stem cells as a potential treatment, the company said.

The trial would study two dose levels involving three subjects in each of two groups. The primary goal would be safety, but it will also evaluate the treatment's impact on disease progression, the company said.

StemCells, based in Palo Alto, California, said the trial would take place at Stanford University Medical Center. The company said the trial would lend insight into how neural stem cells react when they are transplanted into a human recipient.

Shares of the biotechnology company rose 44 cents, or 10.7%, to $4.55 on Tuesday morning on the Nasdaq, after touching a high of $4.75 in the session.


http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science...M_Exclude=Juno

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Jolie Rouge

Stem Cell Panel Expects to Award Grants
By PAUL ELIAS

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine doesn't have a home, any money, or even a single employee, but the head of the new state agency expects to be awarding its first grants for stem cell research by May. ``We have a responsibility to move as quickly as possible,'' Robert Klein said Thursday. ``I admit that I am an optimist.''

The institute was created by California voters in November when they approved a $3 billion bond to fund stem cell research over the next decade. The 29-member committee appointed to manage the institute met Thursday and began to rectify the mind-numbing bureaucratic problems that need to be solved before the agency can be launched in full.


The Independent Citizen's Oversight Committee sorted through issues ranging from mundane personnel matters to grappling with the appropriateness of patenting genes and other life forms. Its only business in one earlier meeting was to appoint Klein as chairman and biotech company founder Edward Penhoet as vice chairman.


The committee members began the process of getting a $3 million loan from the state treasurer so the agency can hire staff and begin operating. They also appointed a seven-member committee to locate a headquarters and find office space.


Many of the board members, who were appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other elected officials, represent research universities and the biotechnology industry, both of which are expected to win millions of dollars worth of grants.


The committee members discussed creating conflict of interest rules, one of several hurdles the agency needs to overcome before it can send off its first check. The committee also must design intellectual property guidelines to ensure the state shares in any profits made from drugs created by California's stem cell grants.


Subcommittees were created Thursday to find outside scientists and others to serve on powerful ``working groups'' that will vet grant applications, deal with laboratory construction and establish standards for awarding grants.


Critics complained the committee was violating the state's open meeting law Thursday because little information about the agenda was provided before the meeting began. California Deputy Attorney General Ted Prim, who advised the committee on open meetings laws Thursday, said he was satisfied the meeting was legal.


Other critics, such as Marcy Darnovsky of the Center for Genetics and Society in Oakland, complained that the so-called working groups are explicitly exempt from the state's open meeting laws and can conduct all business behind closed doors. ``I think that is particularly dangerous and ill-advised,'' Darnovsky said.


Klein acknowledged that detailed information could have been made available sooner, but said that the delay was because the agency had no staff. ``It is in the birth stage,'' Klein said. ``We appreciate the patience and understanding of this process.''


Klein said the agency would begin posting its agenda and related information on its newly launched Web site, http://www.cirm.ca.gov.



01/06/05 23:27


http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/...03.htm&sc=1501

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Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?