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MultimediaNews
- Curing Aging (AI News)
Reports on recent news. 12-22
- Stem Cells Used to Fight Degeneration of Eyesight (MSNBC News)
Reports on a procedure to reverse macular degeneration using stem cells. 01-12
Papers
- -01-30-09 Cloned Pets May Not Act Like Originals (ABC News)
"But cloning pets is a relatively new and expensive procedure that not only raises questions about spending thousands of dollars to recreate a cat or dog when thousands of others languish in pounds, but about the psychic toll pet owners face when the clone of their favorite cat or dog looks -- but doesn't act -- like the original." 01-09
- -03-04-09 10 Diseases Stem Cells May Cure (U.S. News)
"Excitement over the embryonic cells comes from their remarkable ability, as biological blank slates, to become virtually any of the body's cell types. Many observers believe the president's move will accelerate the hunt for cures for some of our most vexing diseases." 03-09
- -04-17-09 Limits Placed on Stem Cell Research (MSNBC News)
"Scientists seeking taxpayer money for embryonic stem cell research under President Barack Obama's new plan must use cells originally culled from fertility clinic embryos that otherwise would be thrown away." 04-09
- -05-19-09 Stems Cells Target Tumors (U.S. News)
"In mice, genetically engineered cells killed cancer but spared healthy cells." 05-09
- -10-09-07 California Takes Lead in Stem Cell Research (PBS.org)
"Since California passed a $3 billion bond measure for stem cell research, recruitment of top scientists has outpaced every other state. The new funding has sparked the building of state-of-the-art facilities and a push for stem cell innovations." 10-07
- -11-26-07 Skin Cells into Stem Cell Breakthrough? (Christian Science Monitor)
"Colonies of tiny cells flourishing in petri dishes in the US and Japan are reshaping the political and ethical landscape surrounding human stem-cell research."
"In the process, these diminutive colonies also may level the playing field in stem-cell research – internationally and domestically."
"These are some of the effects analysts say they see coming out of this week's announcements that two teams have genetically reprogrammed skin cells so that they take on the traits of embryonic stem cells." 11-07
- -11-27-07 Implications of Stem Cell Breakthrough (New York Times)
"Biologists were electrified on Tuesday, when scientists in Japan and Wisconsin reported that they could turn human skin cells into cells that behave like embryonic stem cells, able to grow indefinitely and to potentially turn into any type of tissue in the body."
"The discovery, if it holds up, would decisively solve the raw material problem. It should provide an unlimited supply of stem cells without the ethically controversial embryo destruction and the restrictions on federal financing that have impeded work on human embryonic cells."
"There are two ways that stem cells can lead to treatments for diseases. Making replacement tissues for ailing organs is the direct way. But many scientists say the biggest impact of the new cells will be on the indirect way: using the cells to learn about diseases and then applying that knowledge to develop conventional drugs. 11-07
- -12-16-07 Stem Cells Used to Repair Breast Surgery (Wired.com)
"For the first time, doctors have used stem cells from liposuctioned fat to fix breast defects in women who have had cancerous lumps removed." 12-07
- Biologists Make Skin Cells Work Like Stem Cells (MSNBC News)
"In a leap forward for stem cell research, three independent teams of scientists reported Wednesday that they have produced the equivalent of embryonic stem cells in mice using skin cells without the controversial destruction of embryos."
"If the same could be done with human skin cells — a big if — the procedure could lead to breakthrough medical treatments without the contentious ethical and political debates surrounding the use of embryos."
"Embryonic stem cells are prized because they can develop into all types of tissue. So experts believe they might be used for transplant therapies in people who are paralyzed or have illnesses ranging from diabetes to Parkinson’s disease." 06-07
- Stem Cell News (BBC News)
"Stem cells are the building blocks of life. With the potential to grow into any type of tissue in the body, they seem to offer hope for patients with nowhere else to turn." 10-07
Research
- -Direct Conversion of Stem Cells (CBS News)
"The new direct-conversion approach avoids embryonic stem cells and the whole notion of returning to an early state. Why not just go directly from one specialized cell to another? (It's like flying direct rather than scheduling a stopover.)" The direct-conversion of stem cells has resulted in "scientists converting mouse skin cells into nerve cells and heart muscle cells. And just this month came success with human cells, turning skin cells into early stage blood cells." 11-10
- -Obama Overturns Bush Policy on Stem Cells (CNN News)
"President Obama signed an executive order Monday repealing a Bush-era policy that limited federal tax dollars for embryonic stem cell research." 03-09
- -Scientists Use Cloning to Create Stem Cells (Time.com)
"It's not quite human cloning, but it's close. Researchers reported using a variation of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) — the same technique that created Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be cloned, from a skin cell of a ewe — on human cells. SCNT involves replacing the genetic material of an egg cell with the DNA from a mature cell (a skin cell, for example). The egg is then stimulated to divide, and if it develops fully, produces a genetically identical clone of the animal from which the mature cell was taken." 12-11
- Arguments For and Against Stem Cell Research (BBC News)
"Opponents - led by the president himself - make the case that public money should not be used to support what they call the further destruction of human life."
"But supporters argue that such stem cell research could save lives, by providing treatment and even cures for diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, or childhood diabetes." 7-05
- Biologists Make Skin Cells Work Like Stem Cells (Christian Science Monitor)
"Scientists in the United States and Japan announced yesterday that they have developed artificial stem cells from adult mouse cells. If the approach can be retooled for humans, they say, it would avoid the ethical quicksand that surrounds the use of stem cells drawn from nascent human embryos." 06-07
- Biologists Make Skin Cells Work Like Stem Cells (New York Times)
"In a surprising advance that could sidestep the ethical debates surrounding stem cell biology, researchers have come much closer to a major goal of regenerative medicine, the conversion of a patient’s cells into specialized tissues that might replace those lost to disease." 06-07
- Cloning - First Human Embryo Cloned (BBC News)
Describes the first known case of human cloning. The researchers said that they are trying to develop stem cells to be used in medicine, not develop a human clone. 2001
- Congress Passes Bill Supporting Stem Cell Research (MSNBC News)
"The Democratic-controlled Congress passed legislation Thursday to loosen restraints on federally funded embryonic stem cell research, but the bill’s supporters lacked the votes needed to override President Bush’s threatened veto." 06-07
- Editorial: Stem Cell Research Funding Halted by Judge (CNN News)
"In issuing an injunction against President Obama's order, Judge Lamberth cited the potential harm to federal funding of adult stem cell research from the federal support of embryonic stem cell research. The irony is that this decision is a blow to all research, and with it to America's economic competitiveness and to the hopes of countless families for a cure."
"The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Leonard I. Zon." 09-10
- Embryonic Stem Cell Research in the U.S. in Question (New York Times)
"Perhaps more than any other field of science, the study of embryonic stem cells has been subject to ethical objections and shaped by political opinion. But only a year after the Obama administration lifted some of the limits imposed by President George W. Bush, a lawsuit challenging the use of public money for the research and a conservative shift in Congress could leave the field more sharply restricted than it has been since its inception a decade ago." 10-10
- Federal Judge Halts Some Federal Embryonic Stem Cell Research (CNN News)
"A U.S. district judge granted a preliminary injunction Monday to stop federal funding of embryonic stem cell research that he said destroys embryos, ruling it went against the will of Congress."
"The ruling by Judge Royce C. Lamberth was a blow to the Obama administration, which last year issued guidelines to allow federal funding for embryonic stem cell research." 08-10
- Human Cloning Advanced for Treating Disease (BBC News)
"South Korean scientists have cloned 30 human embryos to obtain cells they hope could one day be used to treat disease."
"The resulting embryos were then grown up to produce so-called stem cells that can divide into any tissue in the body."
"The aim is to use the cells to replace ones that have failed in patients with problems such as Alzheimer's disease." 2-4.
- Jaenisch, Rudolf (Wikipedia.org)
"Rudolf Jaenisch (1942- ) is a German pioneer of transgenic science, in which an animal’s genetic makeup is altered. Jaenisch has focused on creating transgenic mice to study cancer and neurological diseases." 06-07
- Method Found to Mass-Produce Embryonic Stem Cells (I-Newswire.com)
"That's important because traditional laboratory methods used to grow these cells are costly and don't produce cells fast enough to respond to increasing demands for human embryonic stem cells, said Shang-Tian Yang, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Ohio State University."
"Federal rules forbid the federal funding of research on human embryonic stem cell lines that aren't listed on the National Institutes of Health's Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry. There are currently 22 embryonic stem cell lines on the registry, and the demand for these cells is steadily growing."
" 'We have to find a way to mass-produce them because traditional cell culturing methods can't meet the projected high market demand for stem cells,' Yang said."
"He and Anli Ouyang, a doctoral student in chemical engineering, grew mouse embryonic stem cells in a bioreactor. Cell growth increased 193-fold in 15 days. At the end of that period, cell density - the number of cells that had grown in the bioreactor - was anywhere from 10- to 100-fold higher than the number of stem cells produced by conventional laboratory methods. That's several hundreds of millions more stem cells." 3-05
- New Jersey to Fund Stem Cell Research (CBS News)
"Hoping to jump-start plans to make New Jersey a leader in stem cell research, Gov. Jon S. Corzine's administration plans to make $10 million available for research grants, with most money going to embryonic stem cell research." 12-06
- New Jersey to Fund Stem Cell Research (CBS Newst)
"Hoping to jump-start plans to make New Jersey a leader in stem cell research, Gov. Jon S. Corzine's administration plans to make $10 million available for research grants, with most money going to embryonic stem cell research." 12-06
- New Source for Stem Cells (CBS News)
"Researchers hope to one day extract stem cells from testicles that could be directed to grow into all kinds of tissues to repair everything from a damaged heart to brains destroyed by Alzheimer's to insulin-producing cells to cure diabetes."
"So far, the researchers have found a way to grow different tissues from stem cells isolated from the testes of laboratory mice, but they believe the same technology could work in humans." 09-07
- Organ Regeneration a Reality (ABC News)
"The news is being hailed as a medical milestone: Several years after receiving new bladders engineered entirely in a laboratory, seven young patients are all still healthy." 04-06
- Regenerating Brain Cells Gets Closer (ABC News)
Scientists are getting closer to reaching one of the Holy Grails of medical research — regenerating brain cells to wipe out a wide range of neurological diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and epilepsy."
"Using a powerful microscope, the researchers photographed the stem cells in the petri dish every five minutes for up to 30 hours. They ended up with a time-lapse movie that shows exactly what changed every time a new chemical was tried out on the cells."
"Thus they were able to change the course of the development by chemical manipulation, and that's perhaps the most important aspect of all. That suggests that chemicals, not surgery, may be able to correct a diseased mind that is now almost impossible to treat." 02-06
- Researcher: Stem Cell Treatment a 100-Year Milestone (CBS News)
" 'I have never seen in my career a biological tool as powerful as the stem cells. It addresses every single human disease.' " 02-06
- Schwarzenegger Moves $150 Million to Stem-Cell Program (Bloomberg.com)
"California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the state to loan $150 million to the state's financing agency for stem-cell research, one day after President George W. Bush vetoed legislation expanding federal funding for such studies."
- Senate Leader Supports Stem Cell Research (BBC News)
"A top Republican senator [Bill Frist] has backed a bill easing restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, in a move that breaks rank with President George Bush." 7-05
- Sperm Stem Cells Grown Outside the Body (New York Times)
"The ability to cultivate the sperm production cells in large numbers would make it possible to try swapping mutated genes in the cells for normal or improved versions." 11-04
- Stem Cell Research Breakthrough Announced (MSNBC News)
"The new stem cell production method takes a cell extracted during PGD and allows it to divide. One of the two resulting cells is genetically tested as in normal PGD; the other is cultured to encourage the development of stem cells." 08-06
- Stem Cell Research Center (International Herald Times)
"When it starts accepting cells a few months from now, the UK Stem Cell Bank will become a sort of citadel for what is perhaps the most promising medical technology of the last 50 years, which many believe is likely to yield cures for devastating diseases from diabetes to Parkinson's."
"In the United States, in contrast, stem cell research is struggling, stigmatized and crippled by President George W. Bush's declaration that it is morally suspect and by his decision to deny federal funding for most new projects in the field." 8-04
- Stem Cell Research Resumes (Time.com)
"While embryonic stem cells remain the gold standard for any treatments that find their way into the clinic, newer techniques using the next-generation stem cells may soon surpass the older ones." 01-09
- Stem Cell Research and State Laws (Christian Science Monitor)
"Washington has effectively put a lid on federal efforts to advance embryonic stem-cell research. But pressure from scientists eager to expand their knowledge, special interest groups searching for new cures for diseases, and those who see a lucrative new biomedical industry has found a relief valve: the nation's 50 statehouses." 01-06
- Stem Cell Therapy (StemCellBiotherapy.com)
"Stem cells are the primordial cells in the human body. The first stem cells occur inside a developing embryo (blastocyst). These embryonic stem cells are understood to be totipotent (capable of differentiating into every cell types in a living body). They divide and differentiate to ultimately construct the entire human body."
"Many of the currently incurable diseases are associated with degeneration of specific cell types in the body. These include but are not limited to: cancer, infectious diseases, heart disease, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, auto immune diseases, skin disorders."
"Stem Cell Therapy involves the introduction of healthy new stem cells to, potentially, repair and replace damaged or lost cells. This therapy, often referred to as Regenerative Medicine provides much promise for the treatment of what was previously regarded as incurable diseases." 05-07
- Stem Cells - Questions and Answers (BBC News)
"Stem cells are thought to hold huge potential for treating a wide range of disease and disability."
"They are still at an early stage of development, and retain the potential to turn into many different types of cell." 7-05
- Stem Cells Basics (ClearlyExplained.com)
"Stem cells are generally very early stage cells that have the ability to turn into other specialised types of cells." 02-06
- Stem Cells Basics (National Institutes of Health)
"Research on stem cells is advancing knowledge about how an organism develops from a single cell and how healthy cells replace damaged cells in adult organisms. This promising area of science is also leading scientists to investigate the possibility of cell-based therapies to treat disease, which is often referred to as regenerative or reparative medicine." 02-06
- Stem Cells May Cure Eye Disease (ScienceDaily.com)
"Scientists have completed a study using mice which showed that bone marrow stem cells can switch roles and produce keratocan, a natural protein involved in the growth of the cornea—the transparent, outer layer of the eyeball. This ability of marrow cells to “differentiate” into keratocan-producing cells might provide a means for treating abnormal corneal cell growth in people." 05-07
- Stem Cells Produced Without Animal Products to Contaminate (BBC News)
"Dr de Souza says this makes it the first embryonic stem cell line not directly exposed to any animal products at any stage." 3-05
- Stem Cells Stall Brain Disease in Mice for First Time (MSNBC News)
"Human stem cells taken from both embryos and fetuses delayed a fatal brain and nerve disease in mice, moving throughout the brain to take on the jobs of damaged neurons, scientists report."
"They said their study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, represents the first time a human embryonic stem cell has successfully treated a disease in an animal." 06-07
- Stem Cells, Disease, and Aging (CNN News)
"A federal court has given the Obama administration the go-ahead to continue funding embryonic stem cell research."
"The controversial 2-1 decision Friday is a victory for supporters of federally funded testing for a range of diseases and illnesses." 04-11
- Stem Cells, Disease, and Aging (New York Times)
"Thomas Rando, a researcher at Stanford University, thinks stem-cell treatments may enhance healing in older patients who have difficulty recovering from surgery or a fracture. But he's also thinking about deeper issues involving the power of regenerative medicine. 'There are very basic questions I hope we can make headway on using stem cells — in terms of understanding cellular aging, how that's related to tissue aging and the aging of an organism,' he says. Which leads to the interesting possibility that with stem cells, we may no longer define age as how old we think we are but as how old our cells tell us we are." 03-11
- Three Win Nobel in Medicine for Gene Technology (New York Times)
"Two Americans and a Briton won the 2007 Nobel Prize in medicine today for developing the immensely powerful 'knockout' technology that allows scientists to create animal models of human disease in mice."
"The winners, who will share the $1.54 million prize, are: Mario R. Capecchi, 70, of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City; Oliver Smithies, 82, of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill; and Sir Martin J. Evans, 66, of Cardiff University in Wales." 10-07
- Top Science Group Offers Ethics Rules on Stem Cells (San Francisco Chronicle)
"The nation's most respected scientific organization proposed ethical guidelines for human embryonic stem cell research Tuesday, offering a system of institutional self-policing as a way to move the politically contentious research forward." 02-06
- Chicken Eggs Produce Human Antibodies (Scientific American)
"By cloning a single B lymphocyte, researchers can mass produce identical antibody molecules that will attack a single, specific target. 'Monoclonal antibodies have demonstrated great success as human therapeutics, with over 25 approved for human therapeutic use and an increasing number of these proteins in clinical development,' remarks Robert J. Etches of Origen Therapeutics." 9-05
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