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A step forward in stem cell research

Holiday In Wales According to research published today, investigators from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) have used new techniques in the laboratory that allowed them for the first time to derive unlimited numbers of purified mesenchymal precursor cells from human embryonic stem cells (HESCs). Mesenchymal precursor cells are capable of giving rise to fat, cartilage, bone, and skeletal muscle cells, and may potentially be used for regenerative stem cell therapy in bone, cartilage, or muscle replacement.

If Prop 71 passes on election day, it will not only provide for extensive funding of lifesaving stem cell research in California, it will also encourage other states to fund this type of research, will put pressure on the federal government to lift its restrictions on stem cell research, will encourage venture capitalists to fund companies doing this research, and will encourage other countries to fund the research. It will be a major step forward in our quest for longer, healthier lives.

Holiday Wales The new study, demonstrating the specialized techniques for isolating mesenchymal precursors and generating, purifying, and differentiating those cells in culture, is published online and freely available in the journal PLoS Medicine (Public Library of Science).

Four years ago, President Bush restricted federal funding for embryonic stem cell research to a limited number of existing stem cell lines.

Cottage Holiday In Wales Researchers took two lines of completely undifferentiated HESCs and by culturing them in the presence of mouse cells, stimulated them to turn into mesenchymal cells. They then treated these cells with compounds to make them change into specialized bone, cartilage, fat, and muscle cells. According to the study, researchers were able to confirm that these cells were all human cells and that there was no evidence that the cells became cancerous.

In August 2001, President Bush limited federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research to a relatively small colony of existing cells. He reasoned that to allow research on new cell lines would be tantamount to creating human life in order to destroy it. This, embryos used in stem cell research are donated by couples who undergo fertility treatments to have babies, and that none of those leftover cells could survive or grow into a person unless implanted in a womans womb. If these cells werent used for research, they would be thrown away.

Caravan Holiday In Wales Mesenchymal precursors derived from HESCs are different from adult mesenchymal cells because they can efficiently differentiate into skeletal muscle (adult mesenchymal cells do not) in addition to fat, cartilage, and bone. Limited numbers of mesenchymal stem cells have been isolated from adult bone marrow and connective tissues, but harvesting these cells from any of these sources requires invasive procedures and the availability of a suitable donor. The capacity of these cells for long-term proliferation is also poor. In contrast, HESCs could provide an unlimited number of specialized cells.

On the positive side, Zhang believes that using stem cells transplantation of tissue to stave off rejection by the body is a very reasonable use of therapeutic cloning. Shaw contends that the project is potentially a big step forward for MND research. We have spent 20 years looking for genes that cause MND, and to date we have come up with just one gene. We believe that the use of cell nuclear replacement will greatly advance our understanding of why motor neurons degenerate in this disease, without having to first hunt down he gene defect.

Camping Holiday Wales According to Lorenz Studer, MD, PhD, Head of the Stem Cell and Tumor Biology Laboratory at MSKCC and senior author of the PLoS Medicine study, the high purity, unlimited availability, and multi-potentiality of mesenchymal precursors derived from HESCs will provide the basis for preclinical mouse studies to assess the safety of these cells. The investigators have already taken the next step in this research and are testing the therapeutic potential of embryonic stem cell-derived muscle cells in animal models of muscle disorders.

In an article published on the Web site of the research journal Science, researchers Chad Cowan, grown embryonic stem cells they have been able to " program" those genes into a human skin cell, creating a new embryonic stem cell. All stem cells used are approved for federally funded research.

Accommodation Holiday Wales Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

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