(A3e3e4) adult stem cells

The use of adult stem cells to cure diseases was an important medical breakthrough in the last years of the 20th century. ********************************************************************************************************************* ******* As of this date, 07-07-16, this folder contains 30 items. ******* item 1 ADULT STEM CELLS CONTINUE TO SHOW PROMISE ******* item 2 NEW ADULT STEM CELL STUDY ******* item 3 DOCTORS GROUP HAILS ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH BREAKTHROUGH ******* item 4 UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA WORKS WITH FIRM ON ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH ******* item 5 ADULT STEM CELLS SAVE LIMBS ******* item 6 ADULT STEM CELLS HELP PATIENTS WITH HEART CONDITIONS ******* item 7 JAILED MAN'S ADULT STEM CELLS SAVE BROTHER'S LIFE ******* item 8 ADULT STEM CELL PROCEDURE SAVES "BUBBLE BOY" ******* item 9 ADULT STEM CELLS CURE BLINDNESS ******* item 10 POSSIBLE WAY TO REPROGRAM CELLS WITHOUT ETHICAL COMPLICATIONS OF STEM CELLS ******* item 11 TISSUE ENGINEERING OFFERS ETHICAL EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH ALTERNATIVE ******* item 12 TULANE UNIVERSITY WINS NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH GRANT ******* item 13 TEEN'S HEART BETTER AFTER ADULT STEM CELL TREATMENT ******* item 14 SENATOR SMITH INTRODUCES BILL TO BANK ADULT STEM CELLS ******* item 15 ADULT STEM CELLS HEAL HUMAN HEARTS ******* item 16 THE VERSATILITY OF BONE MARROW STEM CELLS ******* item 17 ADULT STEM CELLS IN BLOOD ABLE TO DIFFERENTIATE INTO ORGAN CELLS ******* item 18 ADULT STEM CELLS OFFER NEW HOPE IN SOME CASES OF BLINDNESS ******* item 19 BABY TEETH OFFER ANOTHER EFFECTIVE SOURCE OF ADULT STEM CELLS ******* item 20 ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH SHOWS CONTINUED PROMISE FOR HEART DISEASE VICTIMS ******* item 21 ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH CAN IMPROVE VISION, TREAT CANCER AND HEART DAMAGE ******* item 22 ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH COULD SAVE THOUSANDS WITH LEUKEMIA ******* item 23 PARALYZED SOUTH KOREAN WOMAN WALKS - THANKS TO ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH ******* item 24 ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH MAY BENEFIT MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, CANCER VICTIMS ******* item 25 ADULT STEM CELLS USED TO CURE BLINDNESS ******* item 26 ADULT STEM CELLS PUT WOMAN'S ARTHRITIS IN REMISSION ******* item 27 ITALIAN BOY CURED BY CELLS FROM TWIN BABY BROTHERS ******* item 28 CAPE TOWN COMPANY TO OPEN CONTINENT'S FIRST ETHICAL STEM CELL BANK ******* item 29 UMBILICAL CORD STEM CELLS SUCCESSFUL IN TREATMENT OF TYPE 1 DIABETES ******* item 30 PERSECUTED MIT STEM CELL RESEARCH PROFESSOR LOCKED OUT OF LABORATORY ********************************************************************************************************************** ******* item 1 ADULT STEM CELLS CONTINUE TO SHOW PROMISE ******* From: The Pro-Life Infonet ******* Reply-To: Steven Ertelt ******* Source: Duke University Medical Center; May 31, 2002 ******* Durham, NC -- Like biochemical alchemists, investigators from Duke University Medical Center and Artecel Sciences, Inc., have transformed adult stem cells taken from fat into cells that appear to be nerve cells. ******* During the past several years, Duke researchers and scientists from Artecel demonstrated the ability to reprogram adult stem cells taken from human liposuction procedures into fat, cartilage and bone cells. All of these cells arise from mesenchymal, or connective tissue, parentage. However, the latest experiments have demonstrated that researchers can transform these stem cells from fat into a totally different lineage, that of neuronal cells. ******* Although it is unclear at this point whether or not the new cells will function like native nerve cells, the researchers are optimistic that if future experiments are as successful as the ones to date, these new cells have the potential to treat central nervous system diseases and disorders. ******* "These experiments are proof of principle that it is possible to change one lineage of adult stem cells into another using fat," said Duke's Henry Rice, M.D., pediatric surgeon and senior author of the paper published today (May 31, 2002) in the journal Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications (BBRC), a journal that publishes fast-breaking research in experimental biology. "If future studies in animal models are successful, we'll have gone a long way toward demonstrating the power of these cells to treat human diseases." ******* The research was supported by the American College of Surgeons and Artecel Sciences in Durham. Rice is a consultant for Artecel Sciences. ******* The team conducted parallel experiments in mice and human cells. In both cases, mouse adipose (fat) cells and fat cells taken from human liposuction procedures were treated with chemicals and growth factors and allowed to grow in the laboratory. ******* "Within hours the treated cells in both models began to look like neuronal cells and began to produce measurable amounts of proteins normally expressed by nerve cells," Rice said. ******* "This is a promising first step in the use of an abundant source of adult stem cells in the setting of central nervous system repair," said Jeffrey Gimble, M.D., chief scientific officer at Artecel and co-author of the BBRC paper. "While it is known that you can create neuronal cells from adult stem cells taken from bone marrow, we feel that our approach with fat offers a limitless supply of readily obtainable adult stem cells." ******* Until recently, it was believed that organisms were born with the full complement of neuronal cells, and that new neurons could not be formed. According to the scientists, their latest research, as well as the experiments performed by others on bone marrow stem cells, opens up new possibilities for the treatment of nervous system disorders or injuries. ******* "We are trying to think about human disease in a new way," Gimble said. "Everyone is used to the concept of surgical, medical or pharmacological approaches to the treatment of disease -- we're looking at one of the next steps in biotechnology, which is using cellular therapies." ******* The researchers are quick to point out that there are still many hurdles to be overcome before the use of these cells can occur in a clinical setting. ******* First, the cells were grown in tissue culture and survived after neuronal differentiation for several days. The researchers are confident that as they refine their techniques and evaluate different growth factors, they can extend the lifespan of these cells. ******* Second, while the new nerve cells have a form and function that resemble native nerve cells, it is not known if they will function in the same way as native nerve cells. The next series of experiments in the mouse model will test how the new cells react in a living system and if they will function like nerve cells, the researchers say. ******* The researchers believe the first animal models will focus on acute injuries such as stroke, in which blocked blood flow to the brain causes brain cell death, and spinal cord injuries. ******* Other members of the team are, from Duke, Kristine Safford and Shawn Safford, M.D., and from Artecel Sciences, Kevin Hicok, Ph.D., Yuan-Di Halvorsen, Ph.D., and William Wilkison, Ph.D. ******* The Pro-Life Infonet is a daily compilation of pro-life news and information. ******* To subscribe, send the message "subscribe" to: [email protected]. ******* Infonet is sponsored by Women and Children First (http://www.womenandchildrenfirst.org). ******* For more pro-life info visit http://www.prolifeinfo.org and for questions or additional information email [email protected] ************************************************************************************************************************ ******* item 2 NEW ADULT STEM CELL STUDY ******* From: The Pro-Life Infonet ******* Source: Cybercast News Service; June 22, 2002 ******* Minneapolis, MN -- A scientific team at the University of Minnesota has announced a breakthrough in using adult stem cells to grow human tissue, thereby, raising the prospect that research could be focused on the adult cells rather than more ethically contentious embryonic stem cells. ******* The study was published Thursday in the British journal Nature. ******* Professor Catherine Verfaillie, head of the UM team, took a special type of adult rodent stem cell and showed that it could be turned into most if not all types of tissue in the body. The researchers have found the same type of cells in humans. ******* Stem cells are young, undifferentiated cells that could potentially lead the way to transplants and disease cures. Adult stem cells can be extracted from bone marrow, while experiments on embryonic stem cells involves the destruction of unborn children. ******* Pro-life advocates in England said Friday that the findings vindicated their stance that embryos need not be used in stem cell research. ******* "This is an exciting and successful alternative to embryonic stem cell research, resulting in the creation of totally matching tissue," said a spokesman for the London-based Pro-Life Alliance. "We have been making claims about adult stem cell qualities for months, but government scientists are reluctant to listen." ******* The Pro-Life Alliance said that the study should bring about the end of all embryonic stem cell research in Britain. ******* "Embryo research is only permitted by U.K. law when no viable alternatives are available. This is most clearly a viable and ethical alternative, and the only acceptable way forward," the spokesman said. ******* Peter Garrett, director of research for Life, said his British pro-life organization had been urging a greater emphasis on adult stem cells for years. ******* "Verfaillie's team have shown that such stem cells can be converted into any tissue type," he said. "This makes embryonic human cloning as unnecessary as it is unethical." ******* Garrett agreed with the Pro-Life Alliance and said the U.K.'s Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority should stop granting licenses "for destructive extraction of embryonic stem cells." ******* But scientists weren't convinced that the study proved that research should focus on adult cells, and many argue that embryonic stem cells are more adaptable than adult cells. ******* Also published in Nature on Thursday were the results of experiments on embryonic stem cells in rats. Scientists at National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, Md., were able to reverse the symptoms of Parkinson's disease using the embryonic cells. ******* Verfaillie said that although the adult stem cells, called multipotent adult progenitor cells (MAPCs), could potentially be as versatile as embryonic cells, more research needs to be done. ******* "It is hard to say at this early stage whether ... we will be able to coax MAPC in vitro to all the same cell types that have been shown for (embryonic) cells," she told reporters. "It is too early to make any firm comparison." ******* "Today's papers do not settle the adult-versus-embryo dispute: they suggest that both could yield promising therapies," Nature wrote. "Ultimately, different cell types might best treat different diseases." ******* However, if each type of cell produces similar results, pro-life advocates suggested the answer still lies in the ethical considerations -- the use of adult stem cells do not involve the destruction of innocent human life. ******* For the study in the journal Nature see: http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/vaop/ncurren t/full/nature00870_fs.html ******* The Pro-Life Infonet is a daily compilation of pro-life news and information. ******* To subscribe, send the message "subscribe" to: [email protected]. ******* Infonet is sponsored by Women and Children First http://www.womenandchildrenfirst.org). ******* For more pro-life info visit http://www.prolifeinfo.org and for questions or additional information email [email protected] ********************************************************************************************************************* ******* item 3 DOCTORS GROUP HAILS ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH BREAKTHROUGH ******* From: The Pro-Life Infonet ******* Reply-To: Steven Ertelt ******* Source: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons; October 16, 2002 ******* Rosemont, IL -- Speaking at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Orthopaedics Update 2002 Web conference, Joseph Iannotti, MD chairman of the Cleveland Clinic Department of Orthopaedic Surgery explained, "Adult stem cells have not only proven to be effective in bone healing today, they hold great promise for the future of orthopaedics - especially in the areas of reconstructing all types of tissues, as well as improving the healing of diseased tissues." ******* A stem cell can be thought of as a blank slate with the ability to become any type of cell to form skin, bones, organs or other body parts. What makes a person alive is the continuous regeneration of these cells. Adult stem cells, already present in the human body, differ from embryonic stem cells in that they are derived from living bone, tissue, muscle and fat and not from an embryo. ******* Dr. Iannotti explained that mesenchymal stem cells are the type of cells that depending on the maturation process can become bone, cartilage, muscle, marrow, tendon/ligament and connective tissue. These cells are harvested from bone marrow in the pelvis via a syringe. Approximately 100 milliliters of bone marrow fluid when processed will yield 1 tablespoon containing 800 million cells of which 40,000 are mesanchymal stem cells. ******* "Stem cell therapy can be especially effective when there is a non-union situation," said Iannotti. "For example, a young man whose leg had still not healed fully after a year of treatment showed vast improvement just 3 months after undergoing an adult stem cell therapy." ******* In addition to non-unions (bone fractures that do not heal), adult stem cells are currently being used to treat a variety of clinical conditions including large segmental defects, bone fractures or wounds that have severe scarring, infections, or avascular tissue with a poor blood supply, and the effects of irradiation and chemotherapy. ******* Recent data analysis shows that in more than 700 patients who underwent a stem cell harvesting procedure from the pelvis, there was no complaint of pain and only 2 bruises. This is of great benefit to the patient because it reduces the risk of morbidity associated with complications that may arise in the harvesting of autogenous cancellous bone from other areas of the patient's body. Other benefits to the patient of utilizing a stem cell procedure include minimal scarring and decreased blood loss. ******* Research on human adult stem cells suggests great potential for use in the development of tissue and cartilage regeneration especially in the area of transplantation. Isolating adult stem cells from a patient, directing their specialization and then transplanting them back into the patient would be extremely advantageous because it is unlikely that the cells would be rejected. Research is currently underway towards achieving this goal. Once accomplished it will be a true scientific breakthrough that has the potential to revolutionize the practice of medicine. ******* An orthopaedic surgeon is a physician with extensive training in the diagnosis and nonsurgical as well as surgical treatment of the musculoskeletal system, including bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, muscles and nerves. *********************************************************************************************************************** ******* item 4 UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA WORKS WITH FIRM ON ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH ******* From: The Pro-Life Infonet ******* Reply-To: Steven Ertelt ******* Source: New York Times; December 11, 2002 ******* Cleveland, OH -- While Stanford University is making headlines announcing a new embryonic stem cell research program that involves the destruction of human life, the University of Minnesota is working with a biotech firm to advance adult stem cell research, which has proven more effective in combatting various diseases. ******* Cleveland-based Athersys, a small biotechnology company, has obtained the exclusive commercial rights to a type of stem cell that could defuse the debate over the use of embryonic stem cells in research. ******* Under the agreement, the University of Minnesota has licensed the rights to stem cells harvested from adult bone marrow, which were discovered by Dr. Catherine Verfaillie, director of the University of Minnesota Stem Cell Institute. ******* In June, Verfaillie and colleagues published a study stating that rare stem cells found in human adult bone marrow are capable of forming tissue for various organs and may prove to be as versatile as embryonic stem cells. That means that various types of tissue might one day be made from them, accomplishing the same goals as embryonic stem cell research. ******* Opponents of embryonic stem cell research have championed Dr. Verfaillie's cells, which she calls multipotent adult progenitor cells, as alternatives to embryonic cells. ************************************************************************************************************************** ******* item 5 ADULT STEM CELLS SAVE LIMBS ******* From: The Pro-Life Infonet ******* Source: Associated Pres; August 8, 2002 ******* London, England -- In yet another study showing adult stem cells are a credible and successful alternative to embryonic stem cell research, injecting patients' own stem cells into their leg muscles could create new blood vessels, eliminating pain from bad circulation and helping to prevent gangrene or amputations, new research indicates. ******* The study, described this week in The Lancet medical journal in England, is the first demonstration that implanting stem cells into humans can result in new blood vessel networks, a process called angiogenesis. ******* Experts say the findings offer hope to millions of people worldwide who suffer pain in their limbs because of clogged arteries but can't have an operation. ******* Controlling blood vessel growth is an emerging field of medicine. In the case of cancer, which spreads by sprouting its own blood vessel network, scientists are testing drugs to thwart angiogenesis. ******* However, when parts of the body are starved of oxygen because blood vessels supplying them are blocked, doctors want to boost blood vessel growth - treatment they call therapeutic angiogenesis. ******* The main focus of research is on the heart, limbs and - in the future - brain. Heart attacks, limb amputations and strokes can result from severe circulation problems. Another target is sores that fail to heal. ******* Experiments so far have involved infusing human proteins needed for new blood vessel growth into the veins or injecting muscles with genes that make the proteins. ******* ``This is truly a landmark paper because of its use of stem cells to induce angiogenesis,'' said Dr. William Li, president and medical director of the Boston-based Angiogenesis Foundation, who was not involved in the research. ******* ``It's a brand new approach to treating limbs starved of blood supply,'' Li said. ``They were able to eliminate rest pain in 80 percent of their patients. That is striking. You don't see that with other treatments.'' ******* The study was done by scientists at three Japanese universities: Kansai Medical University in Osaka, Kurume University School of Medicine in Kurume and Jichi Medical School in Tochigi. ******* It involved 45 people with severe blood circulation problems in their legs. About half had already had a bypass operation in their legs, nearly half had gangrene and 69 percent had diabetes. Many had sores that wouldn't heal, suffered pain in their legs even when sitting and were not candidates for surgery or other artery-widening techniques. ******* The first part of the experiment involved 25 patients in a pilot study to test how many people would be needed to demonstrate whether the treatment made a difference. ******* In the pilot study, bone marrow was extracted from the patients and stem cells injected into their worst leg. Saline solution was injected into the other leg. ******* The main study involved 20 other people in whom both legs were critically starved of blood flow. They had their bone marrow stem cells injected into one leg, randomly chosen, and regular blood injected into the other leg. Before the experiment, everyone had an angiogram, a scan that shows the blood vessel network. ******* The scientists used several measurements to gauge the success of the treatment. ******* The legs that got the stem cells had more improvement than the others on a test comparing blood pressure in the ankle with that in the arm before and after treatment. Similar results were seen in a second circulation test that measured differences in oxygen inside and outside tissues. ******* Pain while sitting down disappeared in the stem cell-injected legs of 16 of the 20 people in the main study, but 17 out of the 20 legs that got the blood injection remained painful. That improvement lasted for the six months of the study. ******* X-rays before and after the cell implantation showed increased blood vessel networks in 27 of the 45 who got the stem cells in the two studies. ******* Toe amputations were avoided in 15 out of 20 people, and unhealed wounds improved in six out of the 10 patients who suffered from them. ******* Ira Herman, a professor of physiology at Tufts University who was not involved in the research, said the most impressive findings came from leg specimens of one patient who got stem cells in one leg and saline in the other but died half way through the trial of an unrelated heart attack. The examination found a striking increase in blood vessel numbers in the leg injected with stem cells. ******* ``It's just remarkable,'' he said. ``You can't help but be impressed by the collection of data.'' ******* One question that remains unclear is whether the stem cells actually became blood vessel cells or whether they simply released growth factors that prompted other cells to construct new vessels. ******* Dr. Frank Sellke, chief of cardiothoracic surgery at Harvard Medical School who was also not involved in the study, said the stem cell approach may have great potential. ******* ``There is evidence that the bone marrow cells will actually seek out the most (starved) territory. They will circulate and go to where they are needed,'' he said. ******* -- Please refer a friend to the Pro-Life Infonet. Anyone can sign up at http://www.roevwade.org/roeform.html *********************************************************************************************************************** ******* item 6 ADULT STEM CELLS HELP PATIENTS WITH HEART CONDITIONS ******* From: The Pro-Life Infonet ******* Reply-To: Steven Ertelt ******* Source: Associated Press; November 17, 2002 ******* Chicago, IL -- Doctors testing a new treatment for heart attacks said today they have restored life to seemingly dead heart muscles by seeding them with cells borrowed from patients' thigh muscles or bones. ******* The idea is to find an alternative to transplants for people whose hearts are so damaged that they fail to pump blood forcefully enough. This condition, called heart failure, is a growing health problem that afflicts an estimated 5 million people in the United States alone. ******* Two years ago, a French doctor described a novel alternative: He put millions of immature skeletal muscle cells into the badly damaged heart of a 72-year-old man. His heart began to pump more powerfully, although it was unclear whether the improvement came from the new cells or from coronary bypass surgery he received at the same time. ******* The physician, Philippe Manasche of Bichat Hospital in Paris, has repeated the approach on 10 patients. Similar experiments are being conducted by teams in the United States, Germany, England and Poland. ******* Preliminary but encouraging data on these experiments were reported today at the annual scientific meeting in Chicago of the American Heart Association. Doctors said the shifted cells can live inside the heart's dead scar tissue and show at least some signs of contracting as the original heart muscle would. ******* If effective, the results would add to a growing body of research that reveals adult stem cells more effective than embryonic stem cell research, which is opposed by pro-life advocates because it involves the destruction of unborn children. ******* "This is quite exciting and definitely new," said Timothy Gardner of the University of Pennsylvania, who is not involved in the studies. ******* For now, all researchers can say for sure is that the transferred cells take root and flourish in dead areas of the heart. Whether they make the heart pump more forcefully remains to be seen, although researchers say they see encouraging evidence this may happen. ******* "The results so far support the hypothesis that these cells will do some good. It gives us a reason to go on," said Francis Pagani of the University of Michigan. ******* Pagani is working with Nabil Dib of the Arizona Heart Institute, whose team tested the approach on 16 patients getting coronary bypasses or temporary pumps to keep them alive until they could have heart transplants. ******* Ordinarily, the heart pushes out more than half of its blood with each beat. Dib's patients had such bad heart failure that their hearts pumped just 23 percent. After the bypasses and cell injections, this improved to 36 percent, although it was impossible to say how much, if any, of the new strength resulted from the extra cells. ******* Like Manasche, Dib's team begins with immature muscle cells, called myoblasts, obtained from the patients' own thighs. These are grown in test tubes until millions are available. Then they are injected into parts of the heart that died during heart attacks. ******* "We clearly showed living tissue in the injected scar," Dib said. "If this proves efficacious, we will improve the quality of life of our patients and their survival. This will replace heart transplants." ******* Tomasz Siminiak of the University School of Medical Science in Poznan, Poland, tested the same approach on 10 patients. Improved contraction was seen in scared areas of the heart within a month of the procedure. ******* Both Manasche and Siminiak found that patients needed drugs to prevent potentially lethal heart rhythm disturbances in the months after the injections, although this hazard appeared to go away with time. ******* Manuel Galinanes of the University of Leicester in Britain and Christof Stamm of Rostock University in Germany are using primitive bone marrow cells instead of high muscle, and both say their results are similar. ******* -- Would you like to receive each Infonet story as a separate email? Contact [email protected] and include the message "switch to non-digest." *********************************************************************************************************************** ******* item 7 JAILED MAN'S ADULT STEM CELLS SAVE BROTHER'S LIFE ******* From: The Pro-Life Infonet ******* Reply-To: Steven Ertelt ******* Source: Associated Press; January 5, 2003 ******* Hartford, CT -- Two months after being sent to Virginia to finish serving an 11-year prison sentence for burglary, John ``J.T.'' Glasper returned to Connecticut to save his brother's life. ******* Joseph Glasper, 20, needed a stem cell transplant to fight a rare and deadly form of a blood disease called aplastic anemia. His bone marrow had stopped making enough blood cells, compromising his immune system to the point where he would die within a day if he caught an infection. ******* John, 22, was Joseph's only match. ******* ``He definitely wanted to do this,'' said Pat Ottolini, acting director of health services for the state Department of Correction, which had transferred John to Virginia in October to ease prison overcrowding. ``He did this because it was his brother.'' ******* The brothers were close growing up in East Hartford, Joseph said, but then John was arrested, and he hadn't seen him outside court in three years. ******* Joseph, meanwhile, had joined the Army, but earlier this year he began feeling weak. While home on leave, he was diagnosed with aplastic anemia. ******* On Christmas Eve, the brothers were reunited when prison guards brought John to Yale-New Haven Hospital in shackles to meet with doctors. ******* ``I just cried for a long time,'' Joseph said. ``I told him I loved him and I missed him. ... He said, 'I would do anything to save your life.''' ******* After the meeting, John was returned to the Connecticut prison, and doctors gave him injections of a drug that triggers the production of stem cells. ******* The transplant took place Thursday. ******* On Sunday, Joseph was in fair condition and had been awake and talking. He must remain hospitalized for several weeks while the stem cells reconstruct his immune system, and even after he leaves, he will have to guard against infections, including wearing a mask outside. ******* Once he is able to travel again, Joseph, who is on Army disability leave, said he will visit his brother in prison. ******* ``I think about him all the time,'' he said. ``It's really hard - he's my only brother. No one can replace me and J.T.'' ******* -- Order Today! Pro-Life Church Bulletin Inserts. These full color inserts are an excellent educational resource. They are 8.5 x 5.5, double sided, and printed on glossy paper. The front includes a 4-D Ultrasound photo of an unborn child and under it the words, "I am an American." Abortion statistics are on the back side. Cost is $5.00 per bundle of 50 inserts. No Credit Card orders please. We will include an invoice with your order. Email [email protected], or call 202.378.8842. ****************************************************************************************************************************** ******* item 8 ADULT STEM CELL PROCEDURE SAVES "BUBBLE BOY" ******* Amsterdam, Netherlands -- Wilco Conradi was born two years ago with severe combined immunodeficiency, or SCID, which renders the immune system ineffective against microbes ordinarily harmless to others. A simple illness can become life-threatening to those with SCID. The disease is inherited. It killed one of Wilco's uncles and two of his cousins. ******* But a new gene therapy technique apparently has cured his disease. After a single injection of genetically modified adult stem cells, Wilco gained a normal immune system. He left the plastic bubble that had kept him safe from germs. He needs no medication or special treatment and eats a regular diet. ******* The remnants of lunch were on Wilco Conradi's rosy cheeks when the 2-year-old grabbed a large ice cream and ran back to the table. ******* "Let's see if this tastes OK," he said, climbing onto his mother's lap and drawing a giggle. ******* This summertime outing at the zoo once was unthinkable for the Dutch boy, who lived his first months in a germ-proof plastic enclosure that protected Wilco from infections that would have killed him. ******* "He can go to school, go on vacation and live like any other child," said his father, Theo Conradi. "Just look at him!" ******* Wilco was peering disapprovingly at a boy sleeping in a stroller, apparently worn out by the heat. ******* "Everything looks right." ******* Wilco is among the first four boys to undergo the new treatment - all with successful results - for the inherited disease that occurs in about one of every 75,000 births. The disorder is carried by women but afflicts only boys. ******* The best-known victim was David, Houston's famous "bubble boy," who lived in a germ-proof plastic enclosure until his death at age 12 in 1984. ******* Many afflicted babies are saved by bone marrow transplants but for the rest of their lives take monthly intravenous infusions of immune globulin, antibodies culled from donated blood. ******* Wilco was a baby when he received the experimental treatment at the Hospital Necker-Enfants Malades in Paris. After receiving a single injection of genetically modified stem cells, Wilco now has a normal immune system. ******* In April, the experimental procedure passed its first major test when Wilco got sick. ******* "He had chickenpox and recovered on his own," said Dr. Nico Wulffraat, an immunologist at the Wilhelmina Children's Hospital in Utrecht. "Normally, that would have been lethal." ******* The boy has no signs of complications - such as fever or infection - that could indicate problems, Wulffraat said. ******* "Everything looks right, but we are closely following his case," Wulffraat said. "Several other children have now received the same treatment." ******* Similar gene therapy might be used to fight other inherited disorders, Wulffraat said, "but these children will have to be followed for a long time" to know the long-term results. ******* Diagnosed at birth ******* The day Wilco was born, his father took a blood sample to Wulffraat, fearing the boy had inherited the disease first discovered in his family 45 years earlier. The diagnosis was confirmed hours later, and the next day Wilco was admitted to the hospital. ******* Wulffraat then introduced the family to Paris immunologist Dr. Alain Fischer. ******* The four boys treated in France lacked an essential protein due to a genetic mutation. As a result, they could not produce two types of infection-fighting immune cells, and a third type did not work, leaving their bodies vulnerable to infection. ******* To reverse that gene defect, doctors drew bone marrow from the boys. They culled stem cells from the marrow and mixed them with a harmless virus that contained a gene that makes the missing protein. ******* After the virus infected the bone marrow cells, millions of each boy's cells were injected into his bloodstream to give them healthy immune systems. ******* "A second chance" ******* Wilco visits the hospital four times a year, twice in Paris and twice in the Netherlands. He does not remember anything about his groundbreaking treatment or about his infancy in isolation. ******* At the Artis zoo in downtown Amsterdam, Wilco scampered off with his 12-year-old sister, Petra, to play on the slide as his parents explained how the treatment lifted what seemed like a family curse. Their second child, Wilma, died of a brain tumor a year before Wilco was born. ******* "It feels like we have been given a second chance," said Wilco's mother, Roelien. ******* -- The Pro-Life Infonet is a daily compilation of pro-life news and information. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe" to:[email protected]. ******* Infonet is sponsored by Women and Children First http://www.womenandchildrenfirst.org). For more pro-life info visit http://www.prolifeinfo.org and for questions or additional information email [email protected] ************************************************************************************************************************ ******* item 9 ADULT STEM CELLS CURE BLINDNESS ******* From: [email protected] ******* LONDON, April 29, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) UK physicians are pioneering the use of adult stem cells to cure blindness resulting from a damaged cornea so far, they have used the therapy to restore eyesight in 40 patients. ******* Opthalmic surgeon at Queen Victoria Hospital in East Sussex, Sheraz Daya, explained to the BBC that "Many people who've had injuries to their eyes, or even people born with congenital deficiencies of stem cells, land up having a problem with the top layer of their cornea.". ******* Although corneal transplants have been used to treat the condition for some time, "Even if we do a corneal transplant, that will not stay clear, it'll cloud over and fail", Dr. Daya said. "So what we need to do is replace those stem cells that are missing." ******* Doctors use the patient's own stem cells or those from a donor to re-grow the cornea, the transparent part that makes up the front surface of the eye. ******* See a related report, including testimony of a young mother whose sight was restored: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=P8&targetRule=10&xml=/health/2005/04/29/hstem29.xml ****************************************************************************************************************** ******* item 10 POSSIBLE WAY TO REPROGRAM CELLS WITHOUT ETHICAL COMPLICATIONS OF STEM CELLS ******* OSLO, Norway, May 1, 2002 (LSN.ca) - Researchers at the University of Oslo and the biotech company Nucleotech LLC have announced a breakthrough in reprogramming ordinary human skin cells into immune cells without resorting to stem cells at all. While lead researcher Philippe Collas and James Robl oppose restrictions on research, their finding may overturn arguments for the urgency of using human embryos for research. ******* The team punched holes into mature skin cells and soaked them in a solution made from immune system cells, causing the skin cells to stop functioning as skin cells and take on the characteristics of immune system cells. If fully confirmed, the research could lead to treatments touted by stem cell researchers but using much simpler procedures. "It would be a one-day procedure, in principal," Robl said. "The patient would come in and give a skin biopsy to the lab to reprogram and the day after you could put the cells back into the patient." ******* See the MSNBC coverage at: http://www.msnbc.com/news/745711.asp?0si=- *********************************************************************************************************************** ******* item 11 TISSUE ENGINEERING OFFERS ETHICAL EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH ALTERNATIVE ******* From: The Pro-Life Infonet ******* Reply-To: Steven Ertelt ******* Source: Washington Times; December 12, 2002 ******* Washington, DC -- The budding tissue-engineering field promises one day to solve one of medicine's biggest problems, the dearth of available organs for transplantation. It can also present an ethical aternative to embryonic stem cell research -- opposed by the pro-life community because it involves the destruction of unborn human life. ******* For now, tissue engineering -- the ability to create three-dimensional cell bundles thatcan replace tissue lost to trauma or disease -- is being used to a modest degree nationwide. Several companies offer skin and cartilage tissue, representing the first wave of engineered organic products. ******* Broadly defined, tissue engineering is the development and manipulation of laboratory-grown molecules, cells, tissues or organs to replace or support the function of defective or injured body parts. Although cells have been cultured, or grown, outside the body for many years, the possibility of growing complex tissues -- literally replicating the design and function of human tissue -- is a more recent development. ******* The process requires not only growing cells, but considering how blood vessels might grow around the new cells and whether the new tissue, such as new cartilage tissue in someone's knee, will have the mechanical strength needed to perform within the body. ******* Among the tissue types scientists are working on reproducing are bone, liver, muscle cartilage, heart muscles and nerves. ******* The intricacies of this process require input from many types of scientists, including the problem-solving expertise of engineers, needed to envision the work in three dimensions. ******* Others involved in the research include cell biologists, robotics engineers and specialists in computer-assisted design, who can envision how the new cells would be constructed around various scaffolding systems, or frameworks. The new cells and blood vessels begin to grow while the scaffolding dissolves. ******* Dr. Robert Nerem, director of the Georgia Tech/Emory Center for the Engineering of Living Tissues, says tissue engineering is in its infancy. ******* "In the last 10 years, it has accelerated, yet it's still very much a fledgling industry," says Dr. Nerem, whose center is exploring tissue engineering involving cardiovascular and orthopedic cells, among other uses. ******* Five tissue-engineering products have received approval by the Food and Drug Administration in the past year, Dr. Nerem says -- four skin substitutes and one cartilage-replacement product, known as Carticel. ******* Once destroyed either by trauma or age, cartilage generally does not replenish itself under normal conditions. ******* Jennifer Elisseeff, assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Whitaker Biomedical Engineering Institute in Baltimore, is part of a team trying to create cartilage replacement using methods similar to tissue engineering. ******* Ms. Elisseeff's work involves injecting a fluid filled with nutrients and stem cells from adult goats into damaged cartilage tissue, then using light to solidify the liquid. The gel provides the scaffolding while the stem cells grow into tissue similar to cartilage. Ms. Elisseeff has done the procedure with tissue in the laboratory and is preparing to try it with live animals - goats. There is no timetable as yet for human testing. ******* "Researchers are close to generating a very normal-looking cartilage tissue," she says. Such efforts would help those whose cartilage loss has led to pain and inflammation of the joints, she adds. ******* Tissue engineering differs from cloning, a more contentious way to create tissue, in that cloning extracts the nucleus from an adult cell, then injects it into an embryonic cell. All cells that grow from that new embryonic cell will have the same makeup as the parent cell. ******* Tissue engineering doesn't involve such modified embryonic cells, nor does it create exact duplicates of the original cells. ******* The industry, which has deep roots in several places across the country, notably Boston, Seattle and Pittsburgh, must do more than simply master various cell types, says professor Makarand V. Risbud of Thomas Jefferson University's Cell and Tissue Engineering program in Philadelphia. ******* They must create scaffolding, which can be a solid, a gel or a synthesized material, Mr. Risbud says. ******* That process underlines the need for cross-disciplinary work on the tissue-engineering front, he says. ******* "I have a basic polymer chemist working on the scaffolds," he says, "Then, I have a cell biologist to help understand how the cells behave on the scaffold. An orthopedic surgeon, he adds, works on how to apply the work to the human body and its intricate movements. ******* Cells for tissue engineering can come from the patient or from donated adult stem cells. Using the latter, while preferable for potential "off the shelf" tissue, brings up the possibility of the host rejecting the donated tissue, he says. ******* Dr. Marion Jordan, director of the Washington Hospital Center's Burn Center in Northwest, says his colleagues use a biosynthetic material called Integra to help burn victims recover lost skin. ******* It isn't tissue engineering in its purest form because engineered skin tissue cannot be used for large expanses of skin, but it uses similar principles. ******* The product, a combination of cow proteins and powdered shark cartilage, serves as a scaffolding to allow small blood vessels to grow along with new skin cells. The process still involves taking skin from another part of the patient, but the amount of skin required is less and so the patch where the skin is taken heals more quickly, he says. ******* David Shreiber, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Rutgers University in New Jersey, says cells can be cultivated either from the host patient or from cell banks. In the former case, a doctor would perform a biopsy on the patient, taking tissue away to be shipped off to a lab and expanded. Later, it would be re-injected into the person. ******* Mr. Shreiber says the tissue-engineering field is just getting started but the field's potential remains enormous. Such tissue work could, in the near future, help people adapt better to prosthetic and dental implants. ******* Dr. Nerem expects to see tissue-engineered bone in the next few years, with manufactured blood vessels a possibility in about a decade. ******* Replacing heart valves is at least 15 years away, he adds. ******* Dr. Nerem says that although the promise of tissue engineering has yet to be fulfilled, its need will become even more apparent in the years to come. ******* "The problem with the transplant world is that the discrepancy between patient need and donor availability just gets wider and wider," he says. "We'll never solve that without an external supply of vital organs." ******* -- Refer a friend to the Pro-Life Infonet. Anyone can sign up for free daily or weekly pro-life news/information by sending an email to [email protected] or visiting http://www.prolifeinfo.org *********************************************************************************************************************** ******* item 12 TULANE UNIVERSITY WINS NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH GRANT ******* New Orleans, LA (LifeNews.com) -- Tulane University has received a five-year grant totaling $4.3 million to establish a center for the preparation, quality testing and distribution to researchers of adult stem cells. The funding agency is the National Center for Research Resources, a part of the National Institutes of Health. The new center at Tulane will prepare and distribute to researchers a continuous supply of marrow stromal cells derived from human adult bone marrow and rat bone marrow. http://www.lifenews.com/bio4.html ********************************************************************************************************************* ******* item 13 TEEN'S HEART BETTER AFTER ADULT STEM CELL TREATMENT ******* Source: Reuters Health; June 12, 2003 ******* Reply-To: Steven Ertelt ******* New York, NY -- A Michigan teenager who underwent a first-of-its-kind stem cell treatment earlier this year appears to be doing well and has seen some gains in heart function, one of the doctors overseeing his care said this week. ******* In February Dimitri Bonnville underwent a stem cell transplant aimed at helping him regain lost heart tissue after he was shot in the heart by a nail gun and subsequently suffered a massive heart attack. ******* The experimental procedure used stem cells harvested from the boy's own blood, which were later infused into the damaged portion of his heart via a catheter. ******* "He is doing very well. He is going to parties, he is playing basketball an hour-and-a-half at a time -- pretty much living a near-normal life for a teenager," said Dr. Cindy Grines of Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, who spoke about the teen's condition. ******* "His heart has shown some improvement," she added. ******* Recently, Bonnville underwent a test that evaluates the heart's ejection fraction -- a measure of how efficiently the heart pumps blood. ******* With each heartbeat the heart relaxes and fills with blood, and then it squeezes and pumps blood forward. A normal ejection fraction by the particular test the doctors used would be 50 percent or greater, explained Grines, who is a cardiologist. ******* "Dimitri's ejection fraction has gone up to 40 percent," after having been as low as 20 percent directly after the heart attack, said Grines. ******* "So he has shown progressive improvement in his heart's pump function," she added. ******* The doctors do not have any non-invasive method for determining the fate of the stem cells that were infused into the boy's heart. But Grines noted that a five percentage-point gain in ejection fraction would be normal even in someone who has a good chance of recovery. ******* "Now for Dimitri to have a 20 percent increase is pretty remarkable, so we have to believe that at least some of that (gain) is attributable to the stem cell infusion," she told Reuters Health. ******* For the stem cell procedure, the boy was initially given a drug that helps stimulate the production of stem cells in the blood. The cells were then harvested and concentrated from the boy's blood, and the solution was infused directly into the damaged artery. ******* The aim of the procedure is to stimulate blood-vessel and heart-muscle growth in areas of the heart without sufficient blood supply. ******* Stem cells are so-called master cells that can develop into various tissues in the body, and the idea of using them to repair damaged hearts is a hot area of medical research. ******* People who survive a heart attack are often left with damaged cardiac muscle, which reduces the heart's pumping capacity and can result in progressive heart failure. ******* After the nail gun incident occurred on February 1, the 16-year-old Bonnville underwent emergency surgery to remove the nail and close the wound. Subsequently, the boy suffered a heart attack due to his initial injury and underwent additional surgery in which a stent was used to open a major heart artery that had become blocked. ******* Because the boy's heart was in such grave condition and chances for improvement were deemed slim by his attending physicians, the team decided to try the experimental stem cell procedure. ******* In addition to the stem cell transplant, Bonnville also received an implanted defibrillator, a device that detects dangerous heart-rhythm irregularities and delivers a shock to restore a normal rhythm. ******* So far, the boy's case indicates that studying the stem cell procedure is worthwhile, according to Grines. "We definitely need to push on and more thoroughly test this stem cell procedure," she said. ******* "This is the only (treatment) that we can really conceive of that can repair heart muscle because ... once the heart muscle dies it typically does not repair itself at all -- it just creates a scar," Grines explained. ********************************************************************************************************************* ******* item 14 BABY'S CORD BLOOD STEM CELLS SAVES MOTHER'S LIFE ******* From: [email protected] ******* Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2003 06:31:56 EDT ******* Since 30% of all children in the womb are killed, the following article details how one woman's life was saved because she chose life for her child. --- Frank Joseph MD ******* August 1, 2003 ******* Smith Introduces Legislation (H.R. 2852) to Bolster Nation's Supply of Cord Blood Stem Cells ******* WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), a leader of several health causes in Congress, today introduced legislation that will significantly increase the nation's inventory of stem cells obtained from placentas and umbilical cords, materials that have been proven to successfully treat a number of life-threatening diseases. ******* While blood from the placenta and umbilical cord is rich in stem cells and successful in treating diseases, the nation's inventory of about 20,000 units of blood is too small and not genetically diverse enough. Ethnic minorities frequently find difficulties in securing timely transplants with units currently available. ******* "By significantly increasing the nation's supply of genetically diverse core blood units, treatment for several diseases such as sickle cell anemia, leukemia, lymphoma, and other blood and immune deficiency diseases, will be more widely available to the American people," Smith said. ******* Smith's legislation authorizes $15 million in federal funds during Fiscal Year 2004 and $30 million in FY 05 to subsidize blood centers throughout the nation that agree to collect, prepare, and store the blood units that would then be available for use in treatments. ******* Smith's goal is to boost and maintain the inventory to 150,000 units, a supply that would enable at least 90 % of the population to secure an acceptable stem cell match. ******* An example of cord blood's healing powers can be seen in treating sickle cell anemia, a painful blood-clotting condition that damages organs and tissue caused by abnormally shaped blood cells.� Sickle cell anemia can be successfully treated with stem cells from the placenta and umbilical cord. Because this disease disproportionately affects people of African decent, who currently face a less likely chance of finding a proper match, these patients will especially benefit from the larger inventory of diverse cord blood units. ******* "In addition to helping cure many of today's most serious diseases, recent scientific research suggests cord blood stem cells may lead to much improved treatments for Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's, and several other fatal and debilitating conditions," Smith said. ******* Cord blood cell transplants are also the only prompt treatment available to aid people exposed to radiation or chemical agents during a terror attack. Smith, whose district was hit hard by the fall 2001 anthrax attacks, has made improved treatments and response to biological, chemical, and radiological terror attacks a top legislative priority. ******* "This legislation will provide the needed financial resources for blood centers to collect blood from the placenta and umbilical cord - material which though rich in stem cells is usually discarded - so our nation has an adequate supply of genetically diverse units," he added. ******* Smith's bipartisan bill is supported by several health organizations including the American Cancer Society and several blood centers like the New York Blood Center. Principal original cosponsors of the bill include Representatives Artur Davis (D-AL), Richard Burr (R-NC) , Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Sue Myrick (R-NC), Dave Weldon (R-FL), Eni Faleomavaega D-AS), and John Doolittle R-CA). ******* The above press release, issued on July 24, is a most welcome initiative seeking to provide an ethical source of stem cells to treat many diseases and conditions. If a profusion of placenta and umbilical cord stem cells becomes available, the move toward using stem cells obtained by killing embryonic human beings should evaporate. ******* An illustration of the effectiveness of cord blood stem cell donation is found in the June-July 2003 issue of Life Advocate, a pro-life publication out of Houston, Texas. ******* "Last year, Patricia Durante, now 27 and a citizen of Canada, learned she was suffering from acute myloid leukemia when she was two-thirds of the way through her first pregnancy. ******* "She told the Montreal Gazette in a story that appeared in June, 'It was terrifying,' she recalled. 'I was afraid for the baby. I was afraid of dying and not being there for my daughter. It was very stressful and difficult for my family.' ******* "When she did not respond to moderate doses of chemotherapy, the doctors induced labor at 26 weeks so they could increase the chemotherapy dosage without harming the baby." ******* "On Sept. 2, 2001, Victoria was born. Weighing 3 1/2 pounds and two months premature, baby Victoria was placed in an incubator while Mrs. Durante renewed her chemotherapy." ******* Victoria's umbilical cord blood had been frozen at birth, a practice more and more parents are taking advantage of, in the event the child should, at some point, develop a serious illness. But Victoria's cord blood stem cells were used for another purpose - saving her mother's life. ******* By March, Mrs. Durante's illness had progressed to the point that doctors could no longer wait for a suitable donor for a bone marrow transplant. Because baby Victoria's umbilical cord blood had been frozen at birth as security against a life-threatening disease afflicting her later in life, Mrs. Durante's doctors decided to infuse her with Victoria's stem cells. Even though it wasn't a perfect match because the father's genes were involved, they believed the baby's immune system would identify the leukemia as foreign and attack it. It worked! Victoria's stem cells entered the bone marrow and began to rebuild her blood. Seven months after the infusion, Mrs. Durante is in complete remission. ******* Congressman Smith and his colleagues have offered legislation that would ensure that umbilical cord and placental stem cells are available to those whose lives are threatened by serious and debilitating illness. Furthermore, the bill stands as an example of what state legislatures can do to establish the same type of stem cell banks on the state level. It is clear that stem cells derived from umbilical cords and placentas do bring about healing, unlike stem cells obtained by killing embryonic babies. ******* The Life Advocate report closes with these words from Dr. Laneuville: "We are now in an era where we are realizing scientifically and medically that we have sources of stem cells that can become other tissues and can be used therapeutically." "And the most accessible source and the one we're throwing in that garbage all the time are these cord cells." ********************************************************************************************************************* ******* item 15 ADULT STEM CELLS HEAL HUMAN HEARTS ******* From: [email protected] ******* Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2003 05:52:49 EDT ******* Dear Friends: ******* Next to the abortion/breast cancer risk, the success of ADULT stem cells in the treatment of heart and other diseases, is America's best kept secret. ******* The media, both print and broadcast, keep telling us of practically every advance in medicine, but the great success of adult stem cells in the treatment of heart disease, they tell us nothing. ******* Could it be that through the years, they have been advocating stem cells (research) taken from aborted fetuses and now they have so much egg on their face that it's impossible to wash off. ******* Not only have embryonic stem cells failed, but they have been an unqualified flop, as patients have not only not responded but have gotten worse. ******* Even the medical journals are reluctant to print the truth. ******* If I did not have a computer, I would not know of this advancement in medicine. ******* THIS IS GOOD NEWS, BUT NOT FOR PRO-ABORTS. ******* Call your local TV station and ask why they refuse to tell us good news. ******* Frank Joseph MD ******* CULTURE & COSMOS ******* September 2, 003 ******* Evidence continues to mount that medical techniques using adult stem cells show greater promise in treating diseases than techniques using stem cells extracted from destroyed human embryos. ******* Researchers at a recent meeting of the European Society of Cardiology in Vienna report success in their experimental adult stem cell treatments of heart disease patients. The scientists injected adult stem cells that had been extracted from the patients' own bone marrow into the patients' hearts. The stem cells then helped to regenerate damaged heart tissue. ******* One of the physicians involved in the research stated that four of his five patients "had such a marked improvement in blood supply after stem-cell treatment that they were removed from the list of those needing a heart transplant." Another scientist claimed that "This is the first approach where you have an opportunity to actually heal a heart." ******* A study just published in Nature Medicine provides additional confirmation that adult bone marrow stem cells can work wonders on damaged or diseased hearts. The researchers utilized stem cells from the bone marrow of rats and genetically modified the cells to survive longer than usual. They injected the cells into the hearts of rats that had heart attacks and found that the adult bone marrow stem cells restored eighty to ninety percent of the hearts' volume, and completely normalized the contracting functions of the heart. ******* At the same time, research using stem cells extracted from fetal tissue has been largely unsuccessful, even damaging to patients. A study just released in the scientific journal Annals of Neurology reports that recent experiments in treating Parkinson's disease by using brain cells taken from aborted fetuses have failed. ******* After the fetal cells were injected into the brains of patients with Parkinson's disease, fifty-six percent of the patients developed unanticipated dyskinesia, a condition involving potentially-disabling repetitive movements. In three of the patients, the dyskinesia was "disabling, necessitating a surgical intervention when the study was completed." The authors of the study concluded that they could not recommend fetal brain cell transplantation as a therapy for Parkinson's disease at this time, though they called for continued experimentation using cells derived from aborted fetuses. ******* These results mirror the results of a March 2001 study from the New England Journal of Medicine. In that study, cells from human embryos and fetuses were injected into the brains of Parkinson's patients. A number of the patients later experienced severe uncontrollable movements, like jerking of their heads and swinging or writhing of their arms. ******* As competition continues over limited research grants, such reports of experimental failure or success could prove decisive in funding decisions. ******* Copyright - Culture of Life Foundation. ******* Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required. ******* Culture of Life Foundation 1413 K Street, NW, Suite 1000 Washington DC 20005 Phone: (202) 289-2500 Fax: (202) 289-2502 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.culture-of-life.org ******************************************************************************************************************** ******* item 16 THE VERSATILITY OF BONE MARROW STEM CELLS ******* ROCHESTER, MN, January 23, 2002 - Researchers at the University of Minnesota have discovered a stem cell in human adult bone marrow which can turn into every single tissue in the body, a claim until now only hypothesized about for embryonic stem cells. The New Scientist reports that if the research, which has undergone intensive experimentation, is independently verified, it would leave researchers with no justification for stem cell research using cells taken from human embryos. ********************************************************************************************************************** ******* item 17 ADULT STEM CELLS IN BLOOD ABLE TO DIFFERENTIATE INTO ORGAN CELLS ******* HOUSTON, March 7, 2002 (LSN.ca) - Beyond stem cells in bone marrow, scientists have found that stem cells circulating in the blood can also differentiate into mature cells of various organs. Lead researcher Dr. Martin from the University of Texas demonstrated the finding with biopsy specimens from the liver, gastrointestinal tract, and skin obtained from 12 patients who had undergone transplantation of blood stem cells from peripheral blood. The biopsies gave evidence that the donor blood cells had differentiated into the organ cells of the recipients' organs. ******* Dr. Martin noted that the finding reflects a change in the perception of the healing of organs. "For years, the school of thought was that when tissue was injured, the repair came from the tissue itself. But we can prove the existence of a systemic supply of stem cells distributed via the blood that are capable of tissue repair," he said. ******* Importantly, Dr. Martin noted that the adult blood stem cells can be acquired easily. "But unlike bone-marrow stem cells, circulating stem cells can be easily collected from the blood by a routine blood-banking procedure know as apheresis," he said. "So it is conceivable that adult peripheral blood stem cells could be used for repairing injured tissue or even replacing diseased tissue." ******* See the abstract from the Journal and coverage in the Sun Times: ******* http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/346/10/738 ******* http://www.suntimes.com/output/health/cst-nws-stem07.html ************************************************************************************************************************* ******* item 18 ADULT STEM CELLS OFFER NEW HOPE IN SOME CASES OF BLINDNESS ******* From: The Pro-Life Infonet ******* Reply-To: Steven Ertelt ******* Source: New York Times; April 15, 2003 ******* Bethesda, MD -- A little-known operation restores hope for people who lose sight from chemical or heat burns of the eye or certain rare diseases. The procedure, 50 to 100 percent effective in healing corneal damage, is used worldwide, including Iran, where it helps restore sight for victims of Iraqi mustard gas attacks. ******* A variation on corneal transplants, the surgery grafts stem cells from a donor or a patient's good eye to the injured eye. The cells are from the limbus, a rim around the cornea. The cells resheath the cornea's surface, the 50-micron-thick epithelium, to maintain it as a transparent window. When burns or disease wipe out the limbal stem cells, the epithelium clouds over with scar tissue, causing blindness. ******* Grafting even a small piece of limbus can lead the stem cells to regrow clear epithelium - and keep it clear - thus restoring sight. The cells even recover transplanted corneas. Stem cell transplants and corneal transplants are frequently performed one after the other if corneal damage extends below the epithelium. ******* The discovery of the cells 17 years ago and clinical proof that they keep working in any eye with an intact tear system has opened a new era in eye surgery. ******* "It's an outstanding breakthrough and has, at least in the short run, cured a number of patients," said Dr. Richard S. Fisher, director of the corneal disease program at the National Eye Institute in Bethesda, Md. ******* The stem cells are adult, not fetal tissue or embryonic, and join bone marrow and skin as the third adult stem cell in wide use to repair organs. ******* In the United States, officials estimate that 300 a year are performed and that the transplants are increasing because they re the sole alternative to plastic corneas for desperate burn cases, industrial accidents, damage from contact lenses and a few rare diseases that cause blindness. In operations on one eye, 90 percent to 100 percent restore vision, because the patients' own stem cells from the good eye can be transplanted without rejection. ******* In one eye, the surgery is "basically a slam dunk," said its originator, Dr. Kenneth R. Kenyon of Boston. ******* "When we first saw a number of challenging cases of mostly chemical burns," he said, "the eyes were chronically inflamed, with ulcers and blood vessels growing into the cornea, hallmarks, we now know, of limbal stem cell deficiency." ******* Stem cell transplants on one eye are now standard, said Dr. R. Doyle Stulting, editor of the journal Cornea. "They are clearly successful and they are permanent," Dr. Stulting said. ******* For patients blind in both eyes, stem cell transplants remain effective in half the cases after five years, principally because of rejection. Donor cells from eye banks or relatives are used,and surgeons report progress in those cases. Dr. Edward J. Holland, director of corneal services at the Cincinnati Eye Institute, has written the lone textbook on reconstructing the ocular surface. Last year, he announced results from 74 blind patients who received donor stem cells in both eyes. ******* Seventy-three percent developed clear new corneal surfaces. In patients with no other problems, that would have meant great vision. But for those complicated cases, half of whom had aniridia, the mean vision improved, from 20/1700 before surgery to 20/200 after surgery. ******* "Twenty/200 is legal blindness, but most aniridics can't get better vision," Dr. Holland said, because their retinas have genetic damage that cannot be repaired. "At 20/200, they can get around and read large print books with functional aids." ******* -- Please consider a dontion to support the work of the Pro-Life Infonet. You can send a donation to: Women and Children First, PO Box 5422, Helena, MT 59604-5422. *********************************************************************************************************************** ******* item 19 BABY TEETH OFFER ANOTHER EFFECTIVE SOURCE OF ADULT STEM CELLS ******* From: The Pro-Life Infonet ******* Reply-To: Steven Ertelt ******* Source: United Press International; April 22, 2003 ******* Betehsda, MD -- Instead of leaving baby teeth out for the tooth fairy, parents might do better to send them to doctors, who someday could harvest their hidden stem cells to help combat diseases, researchers reported Monday. ******* The stem cells in baby teeth can transform themselves into nerve and fat cells in laboratory dishes, investigators said. In the future, stem cells plucked from a child's discarded molar could be frozen in cell banks to benefit its donor for decades. ******* "These cells are a very surprising resource that is exciting, and (also important), they are very capable of providing huge numbers of cells," said stem cell researcher Songtao Shi, a pediatric dentist at the NationalInstitutes of Health. ******* All stem cells begin as "blanks" without a dedicated task, unlike nerve, blood, fat and other cells. They have the potential to become specialized, a power scientists have been attempting to harness in order to replace damaged cells in diseases such as Parkinson's and diabetes. ******* Shi and his team investigated stem cells from adults and found stem cells in the pulp of adult teeth, while other teams have isolated stem cells from bone marrow, skin, brains and hair. ******* Two years ago, Shi's then 6-year-old daughter lost her first baby teeth. "I'm a pediatric dentist, so naturally I was the first person to take care of it," Shi said. "Then I thought about the pulp tissue left inside. I was a dentist for years, but I never even thought about baby teeth until I looked at my daughter's carefully," he recalled. Because children are physically immature, stem cells from baby teeth could differ importantly from those from adults studied so far. ******* Shi and his team experimented with baby teeth from seven children. In findings made public Monday and appearing online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Shi revealed stem cells from the pulp of baby teeth not only became a range of cells, but also could trigger bone formation in mice. They also found the cells multiply two to three times faster than stem cells from adult bone marrow and adult teeth. ******* "We were very surprised that they were that highly proliferative," Shi said. ******* Incisors and canines only yield roughly 20 stem cells each, with molars yielding even less. Nevertheless, each stem cell from a baby tooth can reproduce itself many times, yielding trillions upon trillions of cells. ******* "We haven't had a problem with having enough cells to work with," Shi said. ******* Someday, he added, "we can ask parents to put (baby) teeth that comes out in milk, put it in the refrigerator and give a call the next day, and we can get stem cells out. You can freeze them in liquid nitrogen and save them for years and years." ******* If the cells are grown into tissues and implanted back into a person's body, they should avoid the immune rejection often seen in organ transplants. "But more studies definitely need to be done before we can use them to treat disease," Shi said. ******* Developmental biologist Anthony Mahowald of the University of Chicago said one focus of further research should be what types of cells the baby teeth stem cells can become. One possibility: beta cells of the pancreas, "the source of insulin, or dopamine-producing cells, relevant to Parkinson's disease," he said. ******* When employing stem cells from patients with genetic diseases, Mahowald added, "it will be important to demonstrate that gene replacement -- that is, correction of genetic defects -- can be accomplished in these cells." ******* -- The legacy of one of America's greatest Presidents is under attack! There are many revisionists that are trying to remove Ronald Reagan's pro-life legacy from history! His great book, Abortion and the Conscience of a Nation is back in print! Get your copy now. It's a wonderful gift for any pro-lifer or Reagan fan! The new edition is updated, and includes essays by Wanda Franz, President of NRLC; the Honorable William Clark, former National Security Advisor and the man called "spiritually closest to Reagan;" and Brian Johnston, Western Director of NRLC. Available for $12 or 2 for $20 at http://www.californiaprolife.org/reagan/reagan.htm or call 1 800-924-2490. *********************************************************************************************************************** ******* item 20 ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH SHOWS CONTINUED PROMISE FOR HEART DISEASE VICTIMS ******* From: "LifeNews.com" ******* Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 ******* For news updated throughout the day, visit LifeNews.com. ******* Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Adult stem cell therapy can be good for the heart, according to a recent study conducted at Johns Hopkins. The study shows that stem cells extracted for a pig's bone marrow could be used to repair another pig�s damaged heart. If future animal studies and human clinic trials prove successful, the Johns Hopkins researchers may hold the key to unlocking part of the mystery of heart disease. Nearly eight million Americans have had at least one heart attack, making them highly susceptible to another, possibly fatal, case of heart failure. "Current treatments for cardiovascular disease prevent heart attack from occurring and/or alleviate its after-effects, but they do not repair the damaged muscle that results, leaving sizably dead portions of heart tissue that lead to dangerous scars in the heart," said cardiologist Joshua Hare, M.D., professor of medicine at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and its Heart Institute. In the study, seven pigs received adult stem cell therapy and seven did not. Researchers found that the pigs that had been injected with stem cells had a full recovery after only two months. The seven animals in the control group�those that did not receive therapy�developed congestive heart failure within two months of a heart attack. *********************************************************************************************************************** ******* item 21 ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH CAN IMPROVE VISION, TREAT CANCER AND HEART DAMAGE ******* From: [email protected] ******* Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2004 ******* As the mainstream media suppresses the Abortion/Breast Cancer link, they also suppress the cures of Adult Stem Cells. They just cannot be happy unless human beings are killed one way or another. ******* To date, Embryonic Stem Cells have cured nothing, zero, nada, zilch. Not even a glimpse that they might in the future. It's all speculation. As a matter of fact, their use has caused cancer in mice. ******* Still in California, a proposition -- 71 was passed because the people were misled by their Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michael J. Fox with their never ending TV ads that a cure was just around the corner for every disease known to mankind if only proposition 71 would pass. ******* Arnold said that he would be the man to lift California from its massive debt load and he would do it without raising taxes. ******* For a man who does not hide his ambition to be president, if somehow they can amend the Constitution as he is foreign born, he cannot see that the cost of the 3 billion dollar proposition will actually wind up being about $6 billion over 30 years to pay off both the principal ($3 billion) plus interest ($3 billion) on the bonds. ******* The State payments averaging about $200 million per year is really a tax on Californians. They will pay for it because private investors would not touch it with a ten foot pole. ******* So, Arnold has already broken his promise to the people of California with his bellowing of -- no new taxes. And he wants to be president and already he is pulling the wool over the eyes of Californians. - Frank Joseph MD ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH CAN IMPROVE VISION, TREAT CANCER AND HEART DAMAGE ******* by Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com Editor ******* Houston, TX (LifeNews.com) -- Some amazing developments are being reported in adult stem cell research, raising new questions about the wisdom of engaging in destructive embryonic stem cell research. ******* Researchers have now shown that transplanted adult stem cells can improve vision in eyes that have been damaged by retinal disease. ******* The scientific breakthrough is the cover story in the November issue of the journal "Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science." ******* "These findings hold great promise for potential treatments for people suffering from macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and other retinal diseases," Michael Young, the lead author of the study, told the press. ******* Young and his team tested their adult stem cell theory in mice. The research team speculated that the transplanted cells secreted a substance that saved fragile cells. ******* "These are the first steps toward the use of stem cells for saving existing vision and then -- down the road -- restoring vision that has already been lost," Young said. ******* The researchers are now studying whether adult stem cells can be used to improve the vision of pigs, whose eyes more closely resemble human eyes. ******* In another study, Texas researchers believe they've perfected a way to deliver cancer treatment directly to tumors. While the initial experiments have been done on mice, human trials could begin soon. ******* The researchers in the Texas study used adult stem cells which move like guided missiles, targeting tumor cells. ******* In yet another study, in Virginia, adult stem cells taken from human fat have been used to improve the functioning of damaged hearts. ******* "The concept of a person being able to recycle excess or unwanted fat through a procedure that would help them medically is exciting," Dr. Adam Katz of the University of Virginia Medical Center told the Daily Progress newspaper. ******* Katz called the University of Virginia results promising. ******* "It could have been that we put the cells in and found nothing of worth," Katz told the newspaper. "That's not what happened." ******* Researchers took human fat stem cells from people who had had elective surgeries, such as liposuction, and injected them into the heart muscle of five mice after they had had heart attacks. ******* Meanwhile, in Brazil, doctors who injected a stroke victim's brain with adult stem cells from bone marrow plan to try the treatment in other patients after some initial hopeful signs. ******* Dr. Hans Fernando Dohmann told Reuters news service that doctors plan to go ahead with a research project involving 15 patients who will be injected with adult stem cells. ******* "What excites us most is that there is biological activity (in the area affected by the stroke) ... that the injection of cells led to no electric disturbances in the brain, and there was no inflammatory reaction," Dohmann told Reuters. ******* The initial test subject was a 54-year-old woman who had suffered a stroke in August, leaving her without the ability to talk or move the right side of her body. After doctors injected the adult stem cells, she recovered her ability to move and began to speak again. ******* Observers note that the tremendous progress being made in adult stem cell research indicates that embryonic stem cell research, which involves the killing of human embryos, is unnecessary. *********************************************************************************************************************** ******* item 22 ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH COULD SAVE THOUSANDS WITH LEUKEMIA ******* From: "LifeNews.com" ******* Date: Sat, 27 Nov 2004 ******* For news updated throughout the day, visit LifeNews.com. ******* Cleveland, OH (LifeNews.com) -- Adult stem cell research could save the lives of thousands of adults who are suffering from leukemia, according to new studies involving umbilical cord blood. A European study found that adult patients who received cord blood were as likely to be leukemia-free two years later as those who received bone marrow. In addition, a U.S. study, also published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found similar results. The studies raise new questions about the wisdom of embryonic stem cell research, which has had little success. Many bioethicists also find such research troubling because it involves the killing of human embryos. One non-lethal alternative, umbilical cord blood, offers an advantage in that it is unlikely to attack a patient's immune system. Up to this point, cord blood was considered suitable only for children, but the just-released studies indicate it can be effective for adults as well. Some 16,000 American adults experiencing leukemia each year cannot find a suitable marrow donor, according to Dr. Mary J. Laughlin of Case Comprehensive Cancer Center in Cleveland. Cord blood transplants began in the 1990s -- about thirty years after the first bone marrow transplants. It is estimated that adult stem cell transplants save 20 to 30 percent of patients who hope to develop new immune systems. "Umbilical cords that are normally discarded after birth could provide real hope for these patients," Mary Horowitz of the Medical College of Wisconsin told the press. Read the complete story. ********************************************************************************************************************* ******* item 23 PARALYZED SOUTH KOREAN WOMAN WALKS - THANKS TO ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH ******* From: "LifeNews.com" ******* Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 ******* For news updated throughout the day, visit LifeNews.com. ******* Seoul, South Korea (LifeNews.com) -- A South Korean woman who was paralyzed for 20 years is walking again -- thanks to adult stem cell research. The news is further evidence of the success scientists are having with the more ethical form of stem cells. Thirty-seven-year-old Hwang Mi-Soon�s miracle cure came about as a result of stem cells harvested from umbilical cord blood. The woman wept as she walked at a news conference in which South Korean researchers revealed their stem cell success story. While they conceded more research needs to be done, the team said Hwang�s case could be a leap forward in the treatment of spinal cord injuries. "We have glimpsed at a silver lining over the horizon," Song Chang-Hoon, a member of the research team, told the press. "We were all surprised at the fast improvements in the patient," he added. Meanwhile, Hwang, who had been bedridden for two decades as a result of the injury to her back, told the media she considered her ability to walk a miracle. "I never dreamed of getting to my feet again," she said. This new adult stem cell development has raised more questions about the necessity of embryonic stem cell research, which has yielded little in the way of concrete results. ****************************************************************************************************************** ******* item 24 ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH MAY BENEFIT MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, CANCER VICTIMS ******* From: http://www.lifenews.com/bio599.html via [email protected] ******* Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004 ******* by Maria Vitale Gallagher, LifeNews.com Staff Writer ******* Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Some exciting new developments in adult stem cell research are being reported at leading medical conferences. ******* The developments raise new questions about the wisdom of rival embryonic stem cell research, which has had negligible impact on the world of scientific research and is ethically problematic. Embryonic stem cell research involves the killing of human embryos while adult stem cell research does not. ******* The latest adult stem cell research promises hope for patients suffering from everything from multiple sclerosis to strokes to cancer. ******* For instance, researchers in Italy say adult stem cells might be able to reverse damage caused by multiple sclerosis. While human applications might not be possible for some time, initial trials using mice have been encouraging. ******* Some 400,000 Americans afflicted by MS might benefit from the therapy. The stem cells were derived from adult nerve tissue. The half-dozen mice injected with neural stem cells had "almost complete recovery" from the disease in the Italian experiment. However, the researchers cautioned, "We have great hopes, but we do not yet know the possible side effects." ******* Another breakthrough may come through stem cells derived from baby teeth. ******* Hematologist Dr. Stan Gronthos told the New Zealand Herald, "Parents will want to store the stem cells found in the pulp inside these juvenile teeth in liquid nitrogen. That way, they could be used to grow new teeth and perhaps even cure neurological disorders like Parkinson's disease." ******* Gronthos forecasts that baby teeth stem cells will be effective in growing replacement brain tissue to overcome stroke damage as well. Gronthos presented his research findings at an Australian Stem Cell Scientific Conference in October. ******* According to the Herald, a number of delegates to the Sydney conference believe the adult stem cells from the baby teeth will be more versatile than embryonic material. ******* Meanwhile, in Minnesota, researchers see great promise in umbilical cord blood. They say stem cells taken from such blood could cure patients with cancers of the blood and bone marrow. ******* "The results of our studies are a triumph in a treatment that has been largely viewed as only possible in children and adolescents," Dr. John Wagner, a University of Minnesota professor, told the news media. ******* Juliet Barker, an assistant professor of medicine, added, "These remarkable results represent a significant advance in the practice of adult cord blood transplantation. These approaches allow us to offer potentially life-saving transplant therapy to many patients who have previously been denied such treatment." ****************************************************************************************************************** ******* item 25 ADULT STEM CELLS USED TO CURE BLINDNESS ******* From: Robert A Jason ******* Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 ******* LONDON, April 29, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – UK physicians are pioneering the use of adult stem cells to cure blindness resulting from a damaged cornea – so far, they have used the therapy to restore eyesight in 40 patients. ******* Opthalmic surgeon at Queen Victoria Hospital in East Sussex, Sheraz Daya, explained to the BBC that “Many people who've had injuries to their eyes, or even people born with congenital deficiencies of stem cells, land up having a problem with the top layer of their cornea.�? ******* Although corneal transplants have been used to treat the condition for some time, “Even if we do a corneal transplant, that will not stay clear, it'll cloud over and fail,�? Dr. Daya said. “So what we need to do is replace those stem cells that are missing.�? ******* Doctors use the patient’s own stem cells or those from a donor to re-grow the cornea – the transparent part that makes up the front surface of the eye. ******* See a related report, including testimony of a young mother whose sight was restored: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=P8&targetRule=10&xml=/health/2005/04/29/hstem29.xml ********************************************************************************************************* ******* item 26 ADULT STEM CELLS PUT WOMAN'S ARTHRITIS IN REMISSION - healthy woman to her sister with severe rheumatoid arthritis apparently cured the disease, researchers report in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism ******* From: [email protected] ******* Date: Thu, 2 Sep 2004 06:26:42 EDT ******* At the Northwestern University in Chicago, researchers led by Dr. Richard K. Burt used stem cells from the sibling to treat a 52-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis in 38 joints. ******* Prior to transplantation, the woman was given various drugs to increase the odds that her body wouldn't reject the cells. ******* Her morning stiffness disappeared before she was discharged from the hospital and did not recur. Her rheumatoid nodules were completely gone 9 months after transplantation and now one year later the patient is disease-free and is not taking any drugs to suppress her immune system. ******* At 10 months after transplantation, the patient became infected with the shingles virus, but the disease responded well to the drug acyclovir. There was no evidence that the transplanted cells attacked the patient's own cells, a condition called graft-versus-host disease that is essentially the opposite of what occurs with rejection. ******* The procedure, the researchers conclude, "may be performed safely, without the development of graft versus host disease or serious infection, and results in ... marked resolution of the disease manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis." ******* SOURCE: Arthritis and Rheumatism, August 2004 ******* � Copyright Reuters Ltd. ********************************************************************************************************* ******* item 27 ITALIAN BOY CURED BY CELLS FROM TWIN BABY BROTHERS ******* From: [email protected] ******* Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2004 ******* ROME (Reuters) - An Italian boy has been cured of a potentially lethal form of anemia by a new type of stem-cell therapy, using cells from the placenta of both of his recently born twin brothers, the health ministry said on Monday. ******* The five-year-old boy suffered from Thalassemia, a genetic disorder which stops the body producing enough hemoglobin, the substance in the blood which carries oxygen around the body. ******* The innovation of this operation was that it used two different batches of placenta blood from each of the brothers. ******* One batch of blood was rich in stem cells -- basic cells that can grow into a variety of different cells. The other had been altered in vitro to combat the disease. ******* Thalassemia patients are usually treated by regular blood transfusions and regulation of their blood-iron levels. ******* The operation carried out at San Matteo clinic in Pavia, northern Italy, is an alternative to the usual cure -- a bone marrow transplant which is often complicated by the need to find a compatible donor. ******* � Copyright Reuters Ltd. ********************************************************************************************************* ******* item 28 CAPE TOWN COMPANY TO OPEN CONTINENT'S FIRST ETHICAL STEM CELL BANK ******* From: "LifeSite News" via ******* CAPE TOWN, September 2, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Lazaron Biotechnologies, a biotech company based in Cape Town, South Africa, has established the first ethical stem cell bank on the continent that would collect the cells from umbilical cord blood. Cord blood has been called one of the most promising sources of stem cells for research and disease treatment. ******* Daniel Barry, chief executive officer for the company said in a statement, "The limited option already exists to store stem cells abroad, and we took the decision to offer this opportunity to the broader spectrum of the South African population." ******* In Canada, Dr. Peter Hollands, a PhD embryologist has set up this country's first such bank. In November 2003 he told LifeSiteNews.com that the ethical problems of using embryonic human beings for research need not even be addressed since embryo cells are more difficult to work with and no treatment or cures have been found using them. ******* "Embryonic stem cells have many legal, moral, ethical and religious objections before even the practicalities of obtaining the cells, growing them, storing them and not least transplanting them are addressed," Dr. Hollands said. "Adult and umbilical cord blood stem cells are readily available, have no objections associated with them and are tried and tested in clinical use. Umbilical cord blood stem cells, for example, have been used over 3000 times for 45 different diseases!" ******* Reuters continues to muddy the waters over stem cell research and cloning with the use of deceptive and misleading language. In the first line of their coverage of the South African company they call the storage of ethical stem cells 'controversial,' without mentioning that the controversy is entirely over the use of embryos for research. ******* Barry of Lazaron confirmed Dr. Hollands' assertion that umbilical cord stem cells carry great potential for treating diseases. He says that Lazaron is in the forefront of stem cell disease research and the potential exists to treat over 40 different diseases. "Stem cells have already been stored for over 18 years, and currently scientists see no reason why cryogenically frozen stem cells cannot be stored for a lifetime," he said. ******* Reuters coverage: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040901/sc_nm/health_safrica_dc ********************************************************************************************************* ******* item 29 UMBILICAL CORD STEM CELLS SUCCESSFUL IN TREATMENT OF TYPE 1 DIABETES By Hilary White ******* From: "LifeSiteNews" � ******* date: Friday June 29, 2007 ******* CHICAGO, June 29, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) � A new US study offers insights into the way stem cells from umbilical cord blood can be used to successfully treat diabetes. Researchers at the University of Florida College of Medicine studied twenty children aged between two and seven with type 1 diabetes, seven of whom were injected with cord blood cells. The researchers concluded that the study suggests that the cells �jump-start� and correct the patient�s own immune system. ******* "This is the first attempt at using cord blood as a potential therapy for type 1 diabetes. We hope these cells can either lessen the immune system's attack on the pancreas or possibly introduce stem cells that can differentiate into insulin-producing cells," said the lead researcher, Dr. Michael Haller. ******* Type 1 diabetes occurs when the immune system starts destroying insulin-producing cells in the pancreas needed to control blood sugar. It can result in heart disease, blindness, kidney disease and death. ******* The children treated with umbilical cord cells needed an average of 35 per cent less insulin over the following six months, compared with those not given stem cell infusions. ******* The study was presented yesterday at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association in Chicago, where researchers cautioned against an overreaction. They said the treatment was not a cure and that the cause of the immune process in diabetes was still unknown, but Dr. Haller said that his team has reason for �cautious optimism.� ******* Another member of the team, Dr. Desmond Schatz, said, �We expect this effect will be transient, but we will be able to use it in other combinations of therapies.� ******* Juvenile diabetes is one of the most frequently cited diseases in media reports on the potential for stem cells to cure diseases; but news outlets rarely distinguish between cells taken from embryos or foetuses and the patients� own bodies. Numerous studies have shown that stem cells taken from the patient�s own body--sometimes called somatic stem cells--as well as umbilical cord cells, produce favourable results for a number of illnesses, while the results from embryonic stem cells remain uncertain at best. ******* In late May, researchers from the University of Texas reported they had engineered adult stem cells derived from human umbilical cord blood that were able to produce insulin. �This discovery tells us that we have the potential to produce insulin from adult stem cells to help people with diabetes,� said Dr. Randall J. Urban, senior author of the paper. ******* One biotechnology company in Houston, Texas, announced in 2005 that it was exclusively using adult stem cells in its diabetes research. PharmaFrontiers developed a method of extracting stem cells from a patient�s own blood. Patrick Linbeck, a representative of the company said that like embryonic cells, stem cells from blood have been differentiated into every type of stem cell in the body, without the ethical or medical problems presented by embryo cells. ******* Adult Stem Cells From Human Cord Umbilical Cord Blood Successfully Engineered to Make Insulin?http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/may/07052809.html ********************************************************************************************************* ******* item 30 PERSECUTED MIT STEM CELL RESEARCH PROFESSOR LOCKED OUT OF LABORATORY ******* from LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report?******* date Tuesday July 3, 2007 ******* Boston, MA (LifeNews.com) -- A Massachusetts Institute of Technology stem cell researcher who has been denied tenure has no been locked out of his laboratory. Dr. James L. Sherley, a black associate professor of biological engineering who opposes embryonic stem cell research and human cloning, has said he is a victim of racism. Sherley has been an outspoken advocate against human cloning -- including the kind of therapeutic cloning his colleagues and other scientists want to use to create and destroy human embryos for their stem cells. He has been fighting for tenure at MIT for over two years and hoped a hunger strike would change the minds of top school officials earlier this year but it didn't. ******* Now the researcher, who saw his appointment at MIT end June 30, has been locked out of his lab on campus. Sherley was unable to access the lab over the weekend to complete the transfer of his experiments and property to a new location. According to a report in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Dr. Sherly wrote an email to MIT President Susan Hockfield saying he is concerned about the live rats, animal stem cells and human adult stem cells at his lab that he had been using in research. Sherley wrote that �the forced closure of my laboratory is an illegitimate injustice by your office� and said that the institute had not yet given him a �fair hearing� regarding his complaints of discrimination. *********************************************************************************************************

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The following warning is a prophetic message given to me, Frank Wagner, in November of 1974. ******* LISTEN TO THE CRY OF THE ABORTED CHILDREN. THEIR CRY IS NO. THEIR CRY IS A CRY OF TERROR. HEED THEIR CRY. ******* This prophecy is now being fulfilled. ******* For details about the source, meaning and fulfillment of this prophetic message go to ******* http://ca.geocities.com/fwagner4/index.html ******* email me at *** [email protected] ***