A Science Miracle!

[PoliticalChic]

Another advance based on adult stem cells.

 

[spectrumc01]

That is amazing... I wish they would have shown pictures of him where you could see what he himself looked like before and then after. Not what he probably looked like.

Either way I hope it works, any time you can have a major medical break through like this is beneficial to all. I feel embrionic stem cell research should be opened completely up. A cell is a cell, but a current living human being is way more viable and deserving than the potential life of a cell that mey or may not turn into a human.

 

[PoliticalChic]

That is amazing... I wish they would have shown pictures of him where you could see what he himself looked like before and then after. Not what he probably looked like.

Either way I hope it works, any time you can have a major medical break through like this is beneficial to all. I feel embrionic stem cell research should be opened completely up. A cell is a cell, but a current living human being is way more viable and deserving than the potential life of a cell that mey or may not turn into a human.

Yes, I was also amazed, and hopeful when I saw that!


I always look forward to seeing and understanding the perspectives of folks on the board, and this statement of yours was interesting:

"I feel embrionic stem cell research..."

Here, of couse, is one of those questions that separate those on the two sides of the political specturm (pun intended).

Is there a basis for your 'feeling' other than a political bent?

Consider this:
1. Have human embryonic stem cells been used successfully to treat any human diseases yet?

Scientists have only been able to do experiments with human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) since 1998, when a group led by Dr. James Thomson at the University of Wisconsin developed a technique to isolate and grow the cells. Although hESCs are thought to offer potential cures and therapies for many devastating diseases, research using them is still in its early stages.

Adult stem cells such as blood-forming stem cells in bone marrow (called hematopoietic stem cells, or HSCs) are currently the only type of stem cell commonly used to treat human diseases. Doctors have been transferring HSCs in bone marrow transplants for over 40 years and advances in techniques of collecting, or "harvesting" HSCs have been made. HSCs are now used to reconstitute the immune system after leukemia, lymphoma, or various blood or autoimmune disorders have been treated with chemotherapy.

The clinical potential of adult stem cells has also been demonstrated in the treatment of other human diseases that include diabetes and advanced kidney cancer. However, these newer uses have involved studies with a very limited number of patients.
FAQs [Stem Cell Information]


Did you jot down all of the successful uses that result from the cannibalization of human embryos?

There is no point in your reading the following unless facts have a superior place in formulating your views, as opposed to 'feelings.'

Real-World Successes of Adult Stem Cell Treatment
1. Adult stem cells (or, more accurately, tissue stem cells) are regenerative cells of the human body that possess the characteristic of plasticity--the ability to specialize and develop into other tissues of the body. Beginning in an unspecialized and undeveloped state, they can be coaxed to become heart tissue, neural matter, skin cells, and a host of other tissues. They are found in our own organs and tissues such as fat, bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, placentas, neuronal sources, and olfactory tissue, which resides in the upper nasal cavity.
Thiese ND and Krause DS, "Toward a new paradigm of cell plasticity", Leukemia 16, 542-548; 2002.
Jiang Y et al, "Pluripotency of mesenchymal stem cells derived from adult marrow," Nature 418 (July 4, 2002) 41-49.

2. Spinal cord injuries are one of the most severe forms of debilitation known to humanity. Many times they result in different forms of paralysis, including paraplegia and quadriplegia; other times they involve the immediate or imminent death of the patient. [O]lfactory mucosa transplantation, involves transplantation of stem cells found in the nasal region into the injured area (these cells include renewable neurons, remyelinating olfactory ensheathing cells, and progenitor stem cells).

3. Recent years have seen the emergence of successful adult stem cell treatment for those who have suffered from heart attacks and heart failure….a transplantation of their own blood and hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells into their heart arteries…skeletal muscle stem cells taken from a patient suffering from heart disease and implanted back into his heart successfully treated the condition….The capability of adult stem cells to regenerate a damaged and malfunctioning heart was clearly seen…

4. Another area in which adult stem cell therapy is demonstrating rapid advancement is the field of ophthalmology. A surgical procedure known as limbal stem cell transplantation offers hope to those suffering from corneal degeneration, blindness, and other ocular diseases. The procedure involves the extraction of stem cells from the limbus, the region of the eye between the epithelial layer of the cornea and the sclera, the eye's outer layer. The cells are typically extracted from a healthy eye of the patient himself, from a family member, or from cadaveric material. Once extracted, the limbal stem cells are implanted into the patient's defective eye. The stem cells then differentiate into corneal epithelial cells which improve the health of the outermost layer of the eye. Schwab IR et al., "Successful transplantation of bioengineered tissue replacements in patients with ocular surface disease," Cornea 19 (July 2000) 421-426.
Tsai RJ et al., "Reconstruction of damaged corneas by transplantation of autologous limbal epithelial cells," New England Journal of Medicine 343 (2000) 86-93.

5. Adult cell treatment has also shown significant results in the treatment of various autoimmune disorders. Researchers reported that, of 250 diabetics, 200 were able to discard their insulin needles for over a year after islet cell transplantation from cadavers. Fagan, Amy, "Adult stem cells produce treatment breakthroughs."
Shapiro AM et al., "Clinical islet transplant: current and future directions towards tolerance," Immunological Reviews 196 (2003) 219-236.

6. Another example of the success of adult stem cell utilization is found in the treatment of Crohn's disease. The disorder is characterized by an immune system that attacks the sufferer's digestive system. Sherman, Debra, "Adult Stem Cells Hold Hope for Autoimmune Patients," Gene, August 11, 2001. Accessed at: www.gene.ch/gentech/2001/Aug/msg00088.htm

7. [A] Long Beach resident who suffers from MS, has experienced some improvement in health as a result of receiving adult stem cells. He reported that the pain in his legs and hips is gone. Silber, Judy, "A Promising Weapon in the Fight Against MS," September 7, 2000. Accessed at: www.mult-sclerosis.org/news/Sep2000/LATimesMSStemCellTransplants.html.

8. Parkinson's disease is a disorder of the central nervous system in which the substantia nigra, a part of the brain, ceases to produce dopamine, a chemical that allows for effective motion….His own stem cells were extracted from his brain and subsequently transplanted into the left side of his brain in a 1999 procedure…he went four years without symptoms of the disease. Testimony of Dr. Michel Levesque, delivered at a hearing held by the United States Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space on July 14, 2004. Accessed at: http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm?id=1268andwit_id=3670

9. Adult stem cell transplants are also widely used to treat such diseases as anemias, leukemias, lymphomas, and other cancers. Additional treatable diseases are Fanconi anemia, pure red cell aplasia, juvenile chronic myelogenous leukemia, juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia, immune deficiencies, and some genetic diseases. Camitta, Bruce M. and Slye, Rebecca Jean, "Treatment of Acquired Aplastic Anemia, Advanced," National Marrow Donor Program, September 25, 1998. Accessed at: www.marrow.org/MEDICAL/aplastic_anemia_advanced.html "Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, basic," National Marrow Donor Program. Accessed at: www.marrow.org/MEDICAL/nhl.html"Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, basic," National Marrow Donor Program. Accessed at: www.marrow.org/MEDICAL/all.html"Diseases Treatable by Stem Cell Transplants," National Marrow Donor Program. Accessed at: www.marrow.org/MEDICAL/diseases_ treatable_by_stem_cell_transplants.html

10. While the potency and success of adult stem cell treatments are becoming evident, treatments using embryonic stem cells have not produced any clinical successes. Rather, embryonic stem cell treatments tend to create tumors in numerous animal studies. The public should ponder these issues and ask why the media do not cover such results. In a world with limited funds for research, why are we arguing about unproven and often dangerous embryonic stem cell treatments when treatments using adult stem cells are today producing real results for real patients? Adult Stem Cell Success

 

[spectrumc01]

That is amazing... I wish they would have shown pictures of him where you could see what he himself looked like before and then after. Not what he probably looked like.

Either way I hope it works, any time you can have a major medical break through like this is beneficial to all. I feel embrionic stem cell research should be opened completely up. A cell is a cell, but a current living human being is way more viable and deserving than the potential life of a cell that mey or may not turn into a human.

Yes, I was also amazed, and hopeful when I saw that!


I always look forward to seeing and understanding the perspectives of folks on the board, and this statement of yours was interesting:

"I feel embrionic stem cell research..."

Here, of couse, is one of those questions that separate those on the two sides of the political specturm (pun intended).

Is there a basis for your 'feeling' other than a political bent?

Consider this:
1. Have human embryonic stem cells been used successfully to treat any human diseases yet?

Scientists have only been able to do experiments with human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) since 1998, when a group led by Dr. James Thomson at the University of Wisconsin developed a technique to isolate and grow the cells. Although hESCs are thought to offer potential cures and therapies for many devastating diseases, research using them is still in its early stages.

Adult stem cells such as blood-forming stem cells in bone marrow (called hematopoietic stem cells, or HSCs) are currently the only type of stem cell commonly used to treat human diseases. Doctors have been transferring HSCs in bone marrow transplants for over 40 years and advances in techniques of collecting, or "harvesting" HSCs have been made. HSCs are now used to reconstitute the immune system after leukemia, lymphoma, or various blood or autoimmune disorders have been treated with chemotherapy.

The clinical potential of adult stem cells has also been demonstrated in the treatment of other human diseases that include diabetes and advanced kidney cancer. However, these newer uses have involved studies with a very limited number of patients.
FAQs [Stem Cell Information]


Did you jot down all of the successful uses that result from the cannibalization of human embryos?

There is no point in your reading the following unless facts have a superior place in formulating your views, as opposed to 'feelings.'

Real-World Successes of Adult Stem Cell Treatment
1. Adult stem cells (or, more accurately, tissue stem cells) are regenerative cells of the human body that possess the characteristic of plasticity--the ability to specialize and develop into other tissues of the body. Beginning in an unspecialized and undeveloped state, they can be coaxed to become heart tissue, neural matter, skin cells, and a host of other tissues. They are found in our own organs and tissues such as fat, bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, placentas, neuronal sources, and olfactory tissue, which resides in the upper nasal cavity.
Thiese ND and Krause DS, "Toward a new paradigm of cell plasticity", Leukemia 16, 542-548; 2002.
Jiang Y et al, "Pluripotency of mesenchymal stem cells derived from adult marrow," Nature 418 (July 4, 2002) 41-49.

2. Spinal cord injuries are one of the most severe forms of debilitation known to humanity. Many times they result in different forms of paralysis, including paraplegia and quadriplegia; other times they involve the immediate or imminent death of the patient. [O]lfactory mucosa transplantation, involves transplantation of stem cells found in the nasal region into the injured area (these cells include renewable neurons, remyelinating olfactory ensheathing cells, and progenitor stem cells).

3. Recent years have seen the emergence of successful adult stem cell treatment for those who have suffered from heart attacks and heart failure….a transplantation of their own blood and hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells into their heart arteries…skeletal muscle stem cells taken from a patient suffering from heart disease and implanted back into his heart successfully treated the condition….The capability of adult stem cells to regenerate a damaged and malfunctioning heart was clearly seen…

4. Another area in which adult stem cell therapy is demonstrating rapid advancement is the field of ophthalmology. A surgical procedure known as limbal stem cell transplantation offers hope to those suffering from corneal degeneration, blindness, and other ocular diseases. The procedure involves the extraction of stem cells from the limbus, the region of the eye between the epithelial layer of the cornea and the sclera, the eye's outer layer. The cells are typically extracted from a healthy eye of the patient himself, from a family member, or from cadaveric material. Once extracted, the limbal stem cells are implanted into the patient's defective eye. The stem cells then differentiate into corneal epithelial cells which improve the health of the outermost layer of the eye. Schwab IR et al., "Successful transplantation of bioengineered tissue replacements in patients with ocular surface disease," Cornea 19 (July 2000) 421-426.
Tsai RJ et al., "Reconstruction of damaged corneas by transplantation of autologous limbal epithelial cells," New England Journal of Medicine 343 (2000) 86-93.

5. Adult cell treatment has also shown significant results in the treatment of various autoimmune disorders. Researchers reported that, of 250 diabetics, 200 were able to discard their insulin needles for over a year after islet cell transplantation from cadavers. Fagan, Amy, "Adult stem cells produce treatment breakthroughs."
Shapiro AM et al., "Clinical islet transplant: current and future directions towards tolerance," Immunological Reviews 196 (2003) 219-236.

6. Another example of the success of adult stem cell utilization is found in the treatment of Crohn's disease. The disorder is characterized by an immune system that attacks the sufferer's digestive system. Sherman, Debra, "Adult Stem Cells Hold Hope for Autoimmune Patients," Gene, August 11, 2001. Accessed at: www.gene.ch/gentech/2001/Aug/msg00088.htm

7. [A] Long Beach resident who suffers from MS, has experienced some improvement in health as a result of receiving adult stem cells. He reported that the pain in his legs and hips is gone. Silber, Judy, "A Promising Weapon in the Fight Against MS," September 7, 2000. Accessed at: www.mult-sclerosis.org/news/Sep2000/LATimesMSStemCellTransplants.html.

8. Parkinson's disease is a disorder of the central nervous system in which the substantia nigra, a part of the brain, ceases to produce dopamine, a chemical that allows for effective motion….His own stem cells were extracted from his brain and subsequently transplanted into the left side of his brain in a 1999 procedure…he went four years without symptoms of the disease. Testimony of Dr. Michel Levesque, delivered at a hearing held by the United States Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space on July 14, 2004. Accessed at: http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm?id=1268andwit_id=3670

9. Adult stem cell transplants are also widely used to treat such diseases as anemias, leukemias, lymphomas, and other cancers. Additional treatable diseases are Fanconi anemia, pure red cell aplasia, juvenile chronic myelogenous leukemia, juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia, immune deficiencies, and some genetic diseases. Camitta, Bruce M. and Slye, Rebecca Jean, "Treatment of Acquired Aplastic Anemia, Advanced," National Marrow Donor Program, September 25, 1998. Accessed at: www.marrow.org/MEDICAL/aplastic_anemia_advanced.html "Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, basic," National Marrow Donor Program. Accessed at: www.marrow.org/MEDICAL/nhl.html"Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, basic," National Marrow Donor Program. Accessed at: www.marrow.org/MEDICAL/all.html"Diseases Treatable by Stem Cell Transplants," National Marrow Donor Program. Accessed at: www.marrow.org/MEDICAL/diseases_ treatable_by_stem_cell_transplants.html

10. While the potency and success of adult stem cell treatments are becoming evident, treatments using embryonic stem cells have not produced any clinical successes. Rather, embryonic stem cell treatments tend to create tumors in numerous animal studies. The public should ponder these issues and ask why the media do not cover such results. In a world with limited funds for research, why are we arguing about unproven and often dangerous embryonic stem cell treatments when treatments using adult stem cells are today producing real results for real patients? Adult Stem Cell Success

Can't argue with the facts, and I agree adult stem cell research has shown exceptional advancement. However when looking at this particular research I liken it to the exploration of space and our oceans. The ammount of money spent on the space program far and away exceeds the exploration and developement of our oceanic resources. It's easier to get to the oceans and less expensive yet space seems to hold our fascination. I can't help but wonder if we had spent more money on our oceanic research would we be able to live underwater? would we be able to feed the multitudes of the planet? along with a host of other possible solutions to our problems. This is the same reasoning I apply to to the stem cell research, what are we missing by tying the hands of our researchers on embrionic stem cells? I understand that there are those, who on religious principals, disagree with embrionic stem cell research. There are however people on the other side of the isle who don't have those religious views, and there could be some king of compromise between the two. But like most religious view points, they are unmutable until the religious community finds that they benefit from the change. Does this make them hypocritical? thats for someone else to decide. I personally would like to see both stem and adult stem cells researched.

 

[PoliticalChic]

That is amazing... I wish they would have shown pictures of him where you could see what he himself looked like before and then after. Not what he probably looked like.

Either way I hope it works, any time you can have a major medical break through like this is beneficial to all. I feel embrionic stem cell research should be opened completely up. A cell is a cell, but a current living human being is way more viable and deserving than the potential life of a cell that mey or may not turn into a human.

Yes, I was also amazed, and hopeful when I saw that!


I always look forward to seeing and understanding the perspectives of folks on the board, and this statement of yours was interesting:

"I feel embrionic stem cell research..."

Here, of couse, is one of those questions that separate those on the two sides of the political specturm (pun intended).

Is there a basis for your 'feeling' other than a political bent?

Consider this:
1. Have human embryonic stem cells been used successfully to treat any human diseases yet?

Scientists have only been able to do experiments with human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) since 1998, when a group led by Dr. James Thomson at the University of Wisconsin developed a technique to isolate and grow the cells. Although hESCs are thought to offer potential cures and therapies for many devastating diseases, research using them is still in its early stages.

Adult stem cells such as blood-forming stem cells in bone marrow (called hematopoietic stem cells, or HSCs) are currently the only type of stem cell commonly used to treat human diseases. Doctors have been transferring HSCs in bone marrow transplants for over 40 years and advances in techniques of collecting, or "harvesting" HSCs have been made. HSCs are now used to reconstitute the immune system after leukemia, lymphoma, or various blood or autoimmune disorders have been treated with chemotherapy.

The clinical potential of adult stem cells has also been demonstrated in the treatment of other human diseases that include diabetes and advanced kidney cancer. However, these newer uses have involved studies with a very limited number of patients.
FAQs [Stem Cell Information]


Did you jot down all of the successful uses that result from the cannibalization of human embryos?

There is no point in your reading the following unless facts have a superior place in formulating your views, as opposed to 'feelings.'

Real-World Successes of Adult Stem Cell Treatment
1. Adult stem cells (or, more accurately, tissue stem cells) are regenerative cells of the human body that possess the characteristic of plasticity--the ability to specialize and develop into other tissues of the body. Beginning in an unspecialized and undeveloped state, they can be coaxed to become heart tissue, neural matter, skin cells, and a host of other tissues. They are found in our own organs and tissues such as fat, bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, placentas, neuronal sources, and olfactory tissue, which resides in the upper nasal cavity.
Thiese ND and Krause DS, "Toward a new paradigm of cell plasticity", Leukemia 16, 542-548; 2002.
Jiang Y et al, "Pluripotency of mesenchymal stem cells derived from adult marrow," Nature 418 (July 4, 2002) 41-49.

2. Spinal cord injuries are one of the most severe forms of debilitation known to humanity. Many times they result in different forms of paralysis, including paraplegia and quadriplegia; other times they involve the immediate or imminent death of the patient. [O]lfactory mucosa transplantation, involves transplantation of stem cells found in the nasal region into the injured area (these cells include renewable neurons, remyelinating olfactory ensheathing cells, and progenitor stem cells).

3. Recent years have seen the emergence of successful adult stem cell treatment for those who have suffered from heart attacks and heart failure….a transplantation of their own blood and hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells into their heart arteries…skeletal muscle stem cells taken from a patient suffering from heart disease and implanted back into his heart successfully treated the condition….The capability of adult stem cells to regenerate a damaged and malfunctioning heart was clearly seen…

4. Another area in which adult stem cell therapy is demonstrating rapid advancement is the field of ophthalmology. A surgical procedure known as limbal stem cell transplantation offers hope to those suffering from corneal degeneration, blindness, and other ocular diseases. The procedure involves the extraction of stem cells from the limbus, the region of the eye between the epithelial layer of the cornea and the sclera, the eye's outer layer. The cells are typically extracted from a healthy eye of the patient himself, from a family member, or from cadaveric material. Once extracted, the limbal stem cells are implanted into the patient's defective eye. The stem cells then differentiate into corneal epithelial cells which improve the health of the outermost layer of the eye. Schwab IR et al., "Successful transplantation of bioengineered tissue replacements in patients with ocular surface disease," Cornea 19 (July 2000) 421-426.
Tsai RJ et al., "Reconstruction of damaged corneas by transplantation of autologous limbal epithelial cells," New England Journal of Medicine 343 (2000) 86-93.

5. Adult cell treatment has also shown significant results in the treatment of various autoimmune disorders. Researchers reported that, of 250 diabetics, 200 were able to discard their insulin needles for over a year after islet cell transplantation from cadavers. Fagan, Amy, "Adult stem cells produce treatment breakthroughs."
Shapiro AM et al., "Clinical islet transplant: current and future directions towards tolerance," Immunological Reviews 196 (2003) 219-236.

6. Another example of the success of adult stem cell utilization is found in the treatment of Crohn's disease. The disorder is characterized by an immune system that attacks the sufferer's digestive system. Sherman, Debra, "Adult Stem Cells Hold Hope for Autoimmune Patients," Gene, August 11, 2001. Accessed at: www.gene.ch/gentech/2001/Aug/msg00088.htm

7. [A] Long Beach resident who suffers from MS, has experienced some improvement in health as a result of receiving adult stem cells. He reported that the pain in his legs and hips is gone. Silber, Judy, "A Promising Weapon in the Fight Against MS," September 7, 2000. Accessed at: www.mult-sclerosis.org/news/Sep2000/LATimesMSStemCellTransplants.html.

8. Parkinson's disease is a disorder of the central nervous system in which the substantia nigra, a part of the brain, ceases to produce dopamine, a chemical that allows for effective motion….His own stem cells were extracted from his brain and subsequently transplanted into the left side of his brain in a 1999 procedure…he went four years without symptoms of the disease. Testimony of Dr. Michel Levesque, delivered at a hearing held by the United States Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space on July 14, 2004. Accessed at: http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm?id=1268andwit_id=3670

9. Adult stem cell transplants are also widely used to treat such diseases as anemias, leukemias, lymphomas, and other cancers. Additional treatable diseases are Fanconi anemia, pure red cell aplasia, juvenile chronic myelogenous leukemia, juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia, immune deficiencies, and some genetic diseases. Camitta, Bruce M. and Slye, Rebecca Jean, "Treatment of Acquired Aplastic Anemia, Advanced," National Marrow Donor Program, September 25, 1998. Accessed at: www.marrow.org/MEDICAL/aplastic_anemia_advanced.html "Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, basic," National Marrow Donor Program. Accessed at: www.marrow.org/MEDICAL/nhl.html"Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, basic," National Marrow Donor Program. Accessed at: www.marrow.org/MEDICAL/all.html"Diseases Treatable by Stem Cell Transplants," National Marrow Donor Program. Accessed at: www.marrow.org/MEDICAL/diseases_ treatable_by_stem_cell_transplants.html

10. While the potency and success of adult stem cell treatments are becoming evident, treatments using embryonic stem cells have not produced any clinical successes. Rather, embryonic stem cell treatments tend to create tumors in numerous animal studies. The public should ponder these issues and ask why the media do not cover such results. In a world with limited funds for research, why are we arguing about unproven and often dangerous embryonic stem cell treatments when treatments using adult stem cells are today producing real results for real patients? Adult Stem Cell Success

Can't argue with the facts, and I agree adult stem cell research has shown exceptional advancement. However when looking at this particular research I liken it to the exploration of space and our oceans. The ammount of money spent on the space program far and away exceeds the exploration and developement of our oceanic resources. It's easier to get to the oceans and less expensive yet space seems to hold our fascination. I can't help but wonder if we had spent more money on our oceanic research would we be able to live underwater? would we be able to feed the multitudes of the planet? along with a host of other possible solutions to our problems. This is the same reasoning I apply to to the stem cell research, what are we missing by tying the hands of our researchers on embrionic stem cells? I understand that there are those, who on religious principals, disagree with embrionic stem cell research. There are however people on the other side of the isle who don't have those religious views, and there could be some king of compromise between the two. But like most religious view points, they are unmutable until the religious community finds that they benefit from the change. Does this make them hypocritical? thats for someone else to decide. I personally would like to see both stem and adult stem cells researched.

Your post is too darned reasonable.
Are you sure you didn't take a wrong turn to wind up on the USMB?

 

[spectrumc01]

nope, no wrong turn. Just don't like to turn myself off to others opinions for fear I may not learn something. This opinion was long in developing.

 

[Old Rocks]

Hmmmm...... How many embryos are thrown out every year? Just in England alone.



Here's his analysis of the data put out by England's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, a government agency, about what happened to embryos created during this process in 2005:

214,177 embryos were 'used' (i.e. successfully created).

68,083 of those were transferred to women:

"What happened to the other two thirds? The HFEA states that 43,892 were frozen and stored, 230 were donated to other women, 4,338 were donated for research, but 97,634 were euphemistically 'discarded'.
So there we have it. Transferred, 31.8%; frozen, 20.5%, donated, 0.1%; for research, 2.0% and discarded, 45.6%. The latter two categories were destined for immediate and deliberate destruction - a total of 101,972 human embryos, or almost half of those created by IVF, destroyed in just one year."



Read more: Discarded Embryos - Steven Waldman

 

[iarons]

I write a blog on new technologies used to treat retinal diseases. I recently wrote A Primer on the Use of Stem Cells in Ophthalmology, and today posted Update 5 about the problems recently published about induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Please take a look at today's posting on Irv Arons' Journal.

Irv Arons
Irv Arons' Journal

 

[rdean]

I love science and technology.

 

[Toronado3800]

Good God on the number of discarded embryos in England alone.

I personally believe in the research. May amount to nothing, may be made obsolete as we can further modify cells.

My goodness, the number of fertilized eggs thrown away. Politically I am pro-choice mind you. On personal level it is something I am uneasy with to say the least. I just don't support big government telling you what to do with your beliefs.

Talk about lazily pushing your luck though creating all them would be embryos just because it costs too much to do it one at a time.

Before I declare it 100,000 to 4,333 for the ones destroyed for laziness compared to given to research I suppose some of the 100,000 must have been defective in some way, either not viable or.....well they aren't going to give you the ones with problems when they have the choice to genetically engineer the population, I assume.

 

[SmarterThanHick]

Yes, we've made great strides in coming up with solutions regarding the easier goals. Taking skin progenitors from one area of the body and moving them elsewhere to grow the exact same kind of tissue is great. But the larger goal is also the harder goal. You can't grow a kidney from skin stem cells. The point of embryonic stem cell research is to study and understand the cells that can become ANYTHING in the body. Not just the same type of thing.

Hundreds of thousands of embryos are destroyed, when they could be used to better our understanding in ethical ways. The question you need to ask yourself is NOT whether embryos should be destroyed. They already are. The question is: should we use their inevitable destruction to enhance our scientific understanding, and possibly produce amazing cures?

 

[xsited1]

Reminds me of Arthur C. Clarke's three laws:

1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right; when he states that something is impossible, he is probably wrong.
2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

This is magic, kind of like the Dermal Regenerator on Star Trek:

http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Dermal_regenerator

 

[konradv]

Yay for adult stem cell research!!! That, however, tells us nothing about the future and potentially even more important results of embryonic stem cell research. As long as there are cells going to waste, I think we should get something out of them.

 

[Midnight Marauder]

I saw this and also the really fantastic one, the "printing" of organs from adult stem cells, at the TED convention. The dude "printed" a fully functional, ready for transplant kidney, right there on the spot. It was right out of Star Trek!

I never objected to embryonic stem cell research on any moral ground whatsoever, I objected to it because it is bad science. Based on Dr. Huang's now known to be fraudulent work, federal funding for it needed to be stopped, and look what happened in short order! Necessity was the mother of invention, and ESCR is now a dinosaur.

 

[SmarterThanHick]

except it's not a dinosaur. it is alive and still doing well. federal funding may have stopped, but the research never did. in fact, people could still use federal funding on previously established ESC lines. Dr. Huang is a disgrace to the scientific community and his country, but he is ONE man, not a representation.

 

[Midnight Marauder]

except it's not a dinosaur. it is alive and still doing well. federal funding may have stopped, but the research never did. in fact, people could still use federal funding on previously established ESC lines. Dr. Huang is a disgrace to the scientific community and his country, but he is ONE man, not a representation.

It IS a dinosaur. All of its promise has been eclipsed by adult stem cell research. Did you not watch the video in the OP? Did you not see the demonstration at TED? They were NEVER close to doing anything like that, with embryonic stem cells.

 

[konradv]

except it's not a dinosaur. it is alive and still doing well. federal funding may have stopped, but the research never did. in fact, people could still use federal funding on previously established ESC lines. Dr. Huang is a disgrace to the scientific community and his country, but he is ONE man, not a representation.

It IS a dinosaur. All of its promise has been eclipsed by adult stem cell research. Did you not watch the video in the OP? Did you not see the demonstration at TED? They were NEVER close to doing anything like that, with embryonic stem cells.

Your post only makes sense if you can prove that embryonic stem cells will never hold any promise. Those working with them obviously don't know that yet, so your opinion would be worth even less.

 

[Midnight Marauder]

except it's not a dinosaur. it is alive and still doing well. federal funding may have stopped, but the research never did. in fact, people could still use federal funding on previously established ESC lines. Dr. Huang is a disgrace to the scientific community and his country, but he is ONE man, not a representation.

It IS a dinosaur. All of its promise has been eclipsed by adult stem cell research. Did you not watch the video in the OP? Did you not see the demonstration at TED? They were NEVER close to doing anything like that, with embryonic stem cells.

Your post only makes sense if you can prove that embryonic stem cells will never hold any promise. Those working with them obviously don't know that yet, so your opinion would be worth even less.

I didn't say they never would. I said their promise has already been eclipsed, rendering them obsolete. They are the cassette deck, the CD player of science right now. Once useful, taught us some, but obsolete.

Back to what you said about Huang. Yes, it was one guy. But most everything related to ESCR funding requests was based on his models. Was based on his work, now known to be a total fraud. So it is a GOOD thing the government wouldn't fund those, and in the process research on adult stem cells took off - necessity being the mother of invention and all - and now we can PRINT any organ for you we need, from your own skin cells!

 

[SmarterThanHick]

except it's not a dinosaur. it is alive and still doing well. federal funding may have stopped, but the research never did. in fact, people could still use federal funding on previously established ESC lines. Dr. Huang is a disgrace to the scientific community and his country, but he is ONE man, not a representation.

It IS a dinosaur. All of its promise has been eclipsed by adult stem cell research. Did you not watch the video in the OP? Did you not see the demonstration at TED? They were NEVER close to doing anything like that, with embryonic stem cells.

No, of course not. When the first automobile was invented, do you think mankind just gave up on airplanes, believing all of the promise of flight was eclipsed by a gasoline engine on wheels? Space travel? No of course not. Cars have limitations not seen in flight, just as adult stem cells have a huge limitation: you must already have a population of them available in the same tissue type, without the need for differentiation. That works particularly well in limited skin burns, where a vast quantity of skin is still available to donate stem cells. It doesn't work as well with things like eyes that need complex differentiation, or a dead liver that can produce no viable stem cells.

The fact still remains that adult stem cell use has been restricted to direct replication that does not need multiple types of cells to differentiate from a single progenitor. That is the promise of ESC. We already know such differentiation is possible as it happens naturally, and we can only benefit from better understanding that process.

Back to what you said about Huang. Yes, it was one guy. But most everything related to ESCR funding requests was based on his models. Was based on his work, now known to be a total fraud. So it is a GOOD thing the government wouldn't fund those, and in the process research on adult stem cells took off - necessity being the mother of invention and all - and now we can PRINT any organ for you we need, from your own skin cells!

Well no. Apparently YOU didn't listen to the video. You can print ONE organ from your own skin cells, being MORE SKIN. You cannot print a kidney from adult skin stem cells, or any other organ for that matter. If that were the case, why do you think human to human transplantation is still around? Huang was one man who was shown to be a fraud as soon as his research was unable to be reproduced. Up until that point, ESC research was doing just fine, and valid findings were being produced. The entire field was not dependent on one man. That's just where the spotlight was at the time. Do you know what specifically was found to be false of his? He claimed to produce a human embryonic stem cell from an adult stem cell. So no, your idea is not correct.

 

[Midnight Marauder]

except it's not a dinosaur. it is alive and still doing well. federal funding may have stopped, but the research never did. in fact, people could still use federal funding on previously established ESC lines. Dr. Huang is a disgrace to the scientific community and his country, but he is ONE man, not a representation.

It IS a dinosaur. All of its promise has been eclipsed by adult stem cell research. Did you not watch the video in the OP? Did you not see the demonstration at TED? They were NEVER close to doing anything like that, with embryonic stem cells.

No, of course not. When the first automobile was invented, do you think mankind just gave up on airplanes, believing all of the promise of flight was eclipsed by a gasoline engine on wheels? Space travel? No of course not. Cars have limitations not seen in flight, just as adult stem cells have a huge limitation: you must already have a population of them available in the same tissue type, without the need for differentiation. That works particularly well in limited skin burns, where a vast quantity of skin is still available to donate stem cells. It doesn't work as well with things like eyes that need complex differentiation, or a dead liver that can produce no viable stem cells.

The fact still remains that adult stem cell use has been restricted to direct replication that does not need multiple types of cells to differentiate from a single progenitor. That is the promise of ESC. We already know such differentiation is possible as it happens naturally, and we can only benefit from better understanding that process.

Back to what you said about Huang. Yes, it was one guy. But most everything related to ESCR funding requests was based on his models. Was based on his work, now known to be a total fraud. So it is a GOOD thing the government wouldn't fund those, and in the process research on adult stem cells took off - necessity being the mother of invention and all - and now we can PRINT any organ for you we need, from your own skin cells!

Well no. Apparently YOU didn't listen to the video. You can print ONE organ from your own skin cells, being MORE SKIN. You cannot print a kidney from adult skin stem cells, or any other organ for that matter. If that were the case, why do you think human to human transplantation is still around? Huang was one man who was shown to be a fraud as soon as his research was unable to be reproduced. Up until that point, ESC research was doing just fine, and valid findings were being produced. The entire field was not dependent on one man. That's just where the spotlight was at the time. Do you know what specifically was found to be false of his? He claimed to produce a human embryonic stem cell from an adult stem cell. So no, your idea is not correct.

Don't know where you're getting your information, but that wasn't what was fraudulent about Huang's "work."

As to the rest, keep deluding yourself and maybe start paying closer attention to what is going on. ESCR is dead, in the backseat of history. The new "printing" by itself shows more promise than ESCR ever did.