Stem Cells: January 2006 Archives

I received this article from Gareth Cook @ the Boston Globe about a way to multiply blood stem cells.

The article cites Dr. Eva Guinan (we met her Oct. 30th 2004) who was one of the attending physicians during Andy's stem cell transplant at Children's Hospital Boston.

This is something that umbilical cord stem cell banks will like to promote... As a matter of fact Viacord offered their "Selective Amplification" technology to me back in June/July 2004, but Andy's stem cell transplant experts told me it was too risky.. Viacell now even has a movie about "Selective Amplification" in their website.

Here's the Boston Globe article:

Biologists cite way to multiply blood stem cells
Cambridge research may aid bone marrow transplants

By Gareth Cook, Globe Staff | January 23, 2006

Biologists announced yesterday a way to dramatically expand populations of blood stem cells, a discovery that could improve bone marrow transplants and make them available to more patients.

Bone marrow transplants save the lives of thousands of Americans every year, mainly cancer patients, but many others are denied treatment because the cells that give the transplants their regenerative power -- blood stem cells -- are quite rare, and doctors have no way of substantially increasing their number before giving a transplant to a patient.

One of the most immediate applications of multiplying blood stem cells would be to make the blood taken from umbilical cords at birth more widely usable as an alternative source of stem cells for patients awaiting bone marrow transplants, said Dr. Eva Guinan, associate director for clinical and translational research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Cord blood has blood stem cells, but not enough to help many adults. Thousands of Americans die every year waiting for a bone marrow transplant.

The technology could also have a wide range of other applications, improving the safety of current procedures and making new ones possible, said Guinan, who is also a bone marrow transplant doctor at Children's Hospital Boston.

Read the article via Boston Globe here.

I received news from the BBC where they talk about Dr. Sheng Chinese researcher that is using human skin cells placed into rabbit eggs to create 'human' embryonic stem cells.

Animal eggs 'to grow stem cells'
Stem cell researchers are looking to use animal eggs as 'hosts' to grow human cells.

Read the article via BBC here.

I received this article from Duke University that describes Dr. Kurtzberg efforts toward more stem cell research.

Some sentences from the article that catch my attention are:

The use of blood cord stem cells for transplants in the absence of bone marrow donors has become increasingly popular since Kurtzberg performed the first transplant in 1993.

“Cord blood, which is usually discarded following birth, is a noncontroversial alternative to embryonic stem cell treatments,” Kurtzberg said. “Even more important, more than 90 percent of patients who can’t find a bone marrow match find a cord blood match.”

Unlike bone marrow, cord blood stem cells are matched using proteins, rather than genes, and have been shown to adapt more easily, she said. They are especially useful for younger patients, whose immune systems respond less aggressively to foreign cells. Storage and classification of the the cells, however, costs about $1,600 per unit.

Read the article via The Duke Chronicle Online here.

Área de Disposición de Células Progenitoras de Sangre de Cordón Umbilical (CORDMX)
Centro Nacional de la Transfusión Sanguínea.

Para recibir información mas detallada, el Banco de Sangre ofrece todos los miércoles de 9:00 a 10:00 am platicas informativas en el Departamento de Investigación, Desarrollo y Control de Calidad del Centro Nacional de la Transfusión Sanguínea ubicado en :
Av. Othón de Mendizábal No. 195 Col. Zacatenco
Del. Gustavo A. Madero, CP. 07360, México D.F.
Tel. 5119-46-20 al 28 ext. 1308 y 1309

In yesterdays The Guardian in the UK Science editor Robin McKie talks about the cloning scandal and about Hwang's immense promise and hopes being dashed.

By making cloned embryos of adult humans, they would create a source of cells that could replace damaged or lost tissue. The ravaged brains of Alzheimer's victims would one day be provided with new nerve cells; diabetics would be given pancreatic cells to replace those killed off by their condition; and victims of cardiac disease would be treated with fresh heart muscle cells.

Read the article via The Guardian here.

ATF