About stem cells

Stem cells are undifferentiated, or blank, cells. This means theyre capable of developing into cells that serve numerous functions in different parts of the body. Most cells in the body are differentiated cells. These cells can only serve a specific purpose in a particular organ. For example, red blood cells are specifically designed to carry oxygen through the blood.

All humans start out as only one cell. This cell is called a zygote, or a fertilized egg. The zygote divides into two cells, then four cells, and so on. Eventually, the cells begin to differentiate, taking on a certain function in a part of the body. This process is called differentiation.

Stem cells are cells that havent differentiated yet. They have the ability to divide and make an indefinite number of copies of themselves. Other cells in the body can only replicate a limited number of times before they begin to break down. When a stem cell divides, it can either remain a stem cell or turn into a differentiated cell, such as a muscle cell or a red blood cell.

Since stem cells have the ability to turn into various other types of cells, scientists believe that they can be useful for treating and understanding diseases. According to the Mayo Clinic, stem cells can be used to:

There are several types of stem cells that can be used for different purposes.

Embryonic stem cells come from human embryos that are three to five days old. They are harvested during a process called in-vitro fertilization. This involves fertilizing an embryo in a laboratory instead of inside the female body. Embryonic stem cells are known as pluripotent stem cells. These cells can give rise to virtually any other type of cell in the body.

Adult stem cells have a misleading name, because they are also found in infants and children. These stem cells come from developed organs and tissues in the body. Theyre used by the body to repair and replace damaged tissue in the same area in which they are found.

For example, hematopoietic stem cells are a type of adult stem cell found in bone marrow. They make new red blood cells, white blood cells, and other types of blood cells. Doctors have been performing stem cell transplants, also known as bone marrow transplants, for decades using hematopoietic stem cells in order to treat certain types of cancer.

Adult stem cells cant differentiate into as many other types of cells as embryonic stem cells can.

Scientists have recently discovered how to turn adult stem cells into pluripotent stem cells. These new types of cells are called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). They can differentiate into all types of specialized cells in the body. This means they can potentially produce new cells for any organ or tissue. To create iPSCs, scientists genetically reprogram the adult stem cells so they behave like embryonic stem cells.

The breakthrough has created a way to de-differentiate the stem cells. This may make them more useful in understanding how diseases develop. Scientists are hoping that the cells can be made from someones own skin to treat a disease. This will help prevent the immune system from rejecting an organ transplant. Research is underway to find ways to produce iPSCs safely.

Cord blood stem cells are harvested from the umbilical cord after childbirth. They can be frozen in cell banks for use in the future. These cells have been successfully used to treat children with blood cancers, such as leukemia, and certain genetic blood disorders.

Stem cells have also been found in amniotic fluid. This is the fluid that surrounds a developing baby inside the mothers womb. However, more research is needed to help understand the potential uses of amniotic fluid stem cells.

Adult stem cells dont present any ethical problems. However, in recent years, there has been controversy surrounding the way human embryonic stem cells are obtained. During the process of harvesting embryotic stem cells, the embryo is destroyed. This raises ethical concerns for people who believe that the destruction of a fertilized embryo is morally wrong.

Opponents believe that an embryo is a living human being. They dont think the fertilized eggs should be used for research. They argue that the embryo should have the same rights as every other human and that these rights should be protected.

Supporters of stem cell research, on the other hand, believe that the embryos are not yet humans. They note that researchers receive consent from the donor couple whose eggs and sperm were used to create the embryo. Supporters also argue that the fertilized eggs created during in-vitro fertilization would be discarded anyway, so they might be put to better use for scientific research.

With the breakthrough discovery of iPSCs, there may be less of a need for human embryos in research. This may help ease the concerns of those who are against using embryos for medical research. However, if iPSCs have the potential to develop into a human embryo, researchers could theoretically create a clone of the donor. This presents another ethical issue to take into consideration. Many countries already have legislation in place that effectively bans human cloning.

In the United States, federal policy regarding stem cell research has evolved over time as different presidents have taken office. Its important to note that no federal regulation has ever explicitly banned stem cell research in the United States. Rather, regulations have placed restrictions on public funding and use. However, certain states have placed bans on the creation or destruction of human embryos for medical research.

In August 2001, former President George W. Bush approved a law that would provide federal funding for limited research on embryonic stem cells. However, such research had to fit the following criteria:

In March 2009, President Barack Obama revoked former President Bushs statement and released Executive Order 13505. The order removed the restrictions on federal funding for stem cell research. This allowed the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to begin funding research that uses embryonic stem cells. The NIH then published guidelines to establish the policy under which it would fund research. The guidelines were written to help make sure that all NIH-funded research on human stem cells is morally responsible and scientifically relevant.

Stem cell research is ongoing at universities, research institutions, and hospitals around the world. Researchers are currently focusing on finding ways to control how stem cells turn into other types of cells.

A primary goal of research on embryonic stem cells is to learn how undifferentiated stem cells turn into differentiated stem cells that form specific tissues and organs. Researchers are also interested in figuring out how to control this process of differentiation.

Over the years, scientists have developed methods to manipulate the stem cell process to create a particular cell type. This process is called directed differentiation. A recent studyalso discovered the first steps in how stem cells transform into brain cells and other types of cells. More research on this topic is ongoing.

If researchers can find a reliable way to direct the differentiation of embryonic stem cells, they may be able to use the cells to treat certain diseases. For example, by directing the embryonic stem cells to turn into insulin-producing cells, they may be able to transplant the cells into people with type 1 diabetes.

Other medical conditions that may potentially be treated with embryonic stem cells include:

Californias Stem Cell Agency provides a detailed list of the disease programs and clinical trials currently underway in stem cell research. Examples of such projects include:

Researchers are also using differentiated stem cells to test the safety and effectiveness of new medications. Testing drugs on human stem cells eliminates the need to test them on animals.

Stem cell research has the potential to have a significant impact on human health. However, there is some controversy around the development, usage, and destruction of human embryos. Scientists may be able to ease these concerns by using a new method that can turn adult stem cells into pluripotent stem cells, which can change into any cell type. This would eliminate the need for embryonic stem cells in research. Such breakthroughs show that much progress has been made in stem cell research. Despite these advancements, theres still a lot more to be done before scientists can create successful treatments through stem cell therapy.

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Stem Cell Research: Uses, Types & Examples

Researchers have been looking for something that can help the body heal itself. Although studies are ongoing, stem cell research brings this notion of regenerative medicine a step closer. However, many of its ideas and concepts remain controversial. So, what are stem cells, and why are they so important?

Stem cells are cells that can develop into other types of cells. For example, they can become muscle or brain cells. They can also renew themselves by dividing, even after they have been inactive for a long time.

Stem cell research is helping scientists understand how an organism develops from a single cell and how healthy cells could be useful in replacing cells that are not working correctly in people and animals.

Researchers are now studying stem cells to see if they could help treat a variety of conditions that impact different body systems and parts.

This article looks at types of stem cells, their potential uses, and some ethical concerns about their use.

The human body requires many different types of cells to function, but it does not produce every cell type fully formed and ready to use.

Scientists call a stem cell an undifferentiated cell because it can become any cell. In contrast, a blood cell, for example, is a differentiated cell because it has already formed into a specific kind of cell.

The sections below look at some types of stem cells in more detail.

Scientists extract embryonic stem cells from unused embryos left over from in vitro fertilization procedures. They do this by taking the cells from the embryos at the blastocyst stage, which is the phase in development before the embryo implants in the uterus.

These cells are undifferentiated cells that divide and replicate. However, they are also able to differentiate into specific types of cells.

There are two main types of adult stem cells: those in developed bodily tissues and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.

Developed bodily tissues such as organs, muscles, skin, and bone include some stem cells. These cells can typically become differentiated cells based on where they exist. For example, a brain stem cell can only become a brain cell.

On the other hand, scientists manipulate iPS cells to make them behave more like embryonic stem cells for use in regenerative medicine. After collecting the stem cells, scientists usually store them in liquid nitrogen for future use. However, researchers have not yet been able to turn these cells into any kind of bodily cell.

Scientists are researching how to use stem cells to regenerate or treat the human body.

The list of conditions that stem cell therapy could help treat may be endless. Among other things, it could include conditions such as Alzheimers disease, heart disease, diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis. Doctors may also be able to use stem cells to treat injuries in the spinal cord or other parts of the body.

They may do this in several ways, including the following.

In some tissues, stem cells play an essential role in regeneration, as they can divide easily to replace dead cells. Scientists believe that knowing how stem cells work can help treat damaged tissue.

For instance, if someones heart contains damaged tissue, doctors might be able to stimulate healthy tissue to grow by transplanting laboratory-grown stem cells into the persons heart. This could cause the heart tissue to renew itself.

One study suggested that people with heart failure showed some improvement 2 years after a single-dose administration of stem cell therapy. However, the effect of stem cell therapy on the heart is still not fully clear, and research is still ongoing.

Another investigation suggested that stem cell therapies could be the basis of personalized diabetes treatment. In mice and laboratory-grown cultures, researchers successfully produced insulin-secreting cells from stem cells derived from the skin of people with type 1 diabetes.

Study author Jeffrey R. Millman an assistant professor of medicine and biomedical engineering at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO said, What were envisioning is an outpatient procedure in which some sort of device filled with the cells would be placed just beneath the skin.

Millman hopes that these stem cell-derived beta cells could be ready for research in humans within 35 years.

Stem cells could also have vast potential in developing other new therapies.

Another way that scientists could use stem cells is in developing and testing new drugs.

The type of stem cell that scientists commonly use for this purpose is the iPS cell. These are cells that have already undergone differentiation but which scientists have genetically reprogrammed using genetic manipulation, sometimes using viruses.

In theory, this allows iPS cells to divide and become any cell. In this way, they could act like undifferentiated stem cells.

For example, scientists want to grow differentiated cells from iPS cells to resemble cancer cells and use them to test anticancer drugs. This could be possible because conditions such as cancer, as well as some congenital disabilities, happen because cells divide abnormally.

However, more research is taking place to determine whether or not scientists really can turn iPS cells into any kind of differentiated cell and how they can use this process to help treat these conditions.

In recent years, clinics have opened that offer different types of stem cell treatments. One 2016 study counted 570 of these clinics in the United States alone. They appear to offer stem cell-based therapies for conditions ranging from sports injuries to cancer.

However, most stem cell therapies are still theoretical rather than evidence-based. For example, researchers are studying how to use stem cells from amniotic fluid which experts can save after an amniocentesis test to treat various conditions.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does allow clinics to inject people with their own stem cells as long as the cells are intended to perform only their normal function.

Aside from that, however, the FDA has only approved the use of blood-forming stem cells known as hematopoietic progenitor cells. Doctors derive these from umbilical cord blood and use them to treat conditions that affect the production of blood. Currently, for example, a doctor can preserve blood from an umbilical cord after a babys birth to save for this purpose in the future.

The FDA lists specific approved stem cell products, such as cord blood, and the medical facilities that use them on its website. It also warns people to be wary of undergoing any unproven treatments because very few stem cell treatments have actually reached the earliest phase of a clinical trial.

Historically, the use of stem cells in medical research has been controversial. This is because when the therapeutic use of stem cells first came to the publics attention in the late 1990s, scientists were only deriving human stem cells from embryos.

Many people disagree with using human embryonic cells for medical research because extracting them means destroying the embryo. This creates complex issues, as people have different beliefs about what constitutes the start of human life.

For some people, life starts when a baby is born, while for others, it starts when an embryo develops into a fetus. Meanwhile, other people believe that human life begins at conception, so an embryo has the same moral status and rights as a human child.

Former U.S. president George W. Bush had strong antiabortion views. He believed that an embryo should be considered a life and not be used for scientific experiments. Bush banned government funding for human stem cell research in 2001, but former U.S. president Barack Obama then revoked this order. Former U.S. president Donald Trump and current U.S. president Joe Biden have also gone back and forth with legislation on this.

However, by 2006, researchers had already started using iPS cells. Scientists do not derive these stem cells from embryonic stem cells. As a result, this technique does not have the same ethical concerns. With this and other recent advances in stem cell technology, attitudes toward stem cell research are slowly beginning to change.

However, other concerns related to using iPS cells still exist. This includes ensuring that donors of biological material give proper consent to have iPS cells extracted and carefully designing any clinical studies.

Researchers also have some concerns that manipulating these cells as part of stem cell therapy could lead to the growth of cancerous tumors.

Although scientists need to do much more research before stem cell therapies can become part of regular medical practice, the science around stem cells is developing all the time.

Scientists still conduct embryonic stem cell research, but research into iPS cells could help reduce some of the ethical concerns around regenerative medicine. This could lead to much more personalized treatment for many conditions and the ability to regenerate parts of the human body.

Learn more about stem cells, where they come from, and their possible uses here.

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Stem cells: Therapy, controversy, and research

Stem cells possess the unique ability to differentiate into many distinct cell types in the body, including brain cells, but they also retain the ability to produce more stem cells, a process termed self-renewal. There are multiple types of stem cell, such as embryonic stem (ES) cells, induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, and adult or somatic stem cells. While various types of stem cells share similar properties there are differences as well. For example, ES cells and iPS cells are able to differentiate into any type of cell, whereas adult stem cells are more restricted in their potential. The promise of all stem cells for use in future therapies is exciting, but significant technical hurdles remain that will only be overcome through years of intensive research.

NINDS supports a diverse array of research on stem cells, from studies of the basic biology of stem cells in the developing and adult mammalian brain, to studies focusing on nervous system disorders such as ALS or spinal cord injury. Other examples of NINDS funded research include using iPS cells to derive dopamine-producing neurons that might alleviate symptoms in patients with Parkinsons disease, and using ES cells to generate cerebral organoids to model Zika virus infection.

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Focus On Stem Cell Research | National Institute of ...

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A representative from CNN reached out to us recently with some questions about stem cells as a potential treatment for so-called long Covid. As they were working on their story, they learned about an interventional clinical trial BioXcellerator has designed to study stem-cell therapy as a possible treatment for Covid-19.

Yes, we are conducting a studyon the use of stem cells to treat cases of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) that can develop in many Covid-19 patients and cause even higher mortality rates.

But this was a study we designed back in January of 2020. Thats when the global pandemic was in its infancy. The medical community was squarely focused on coping with acute disease, not chronic symptoms that might linger long after a patient recovers. The word Covid was still unfamiliar to many people, and the term long Covid wasn't used until months later.

As we explained to CNN, theres a big difference between acute cases of a disease and chronic conditions that may require different treatment approaches. So such a study would need to be a different one with its own set of research criteria. We pointed out that few, if any, such studies have begun by any research organization, but that didnt reflect a lack of interest.

In fact, quite the contrary. Our medical team is hard at work evaluating just such a study because we need more research to determine whether stem-cell therapy may indeed be a safe and effective treatment for the long-term lingering impact of this disease.

Related:High-Potency 'GoldenCells' Offer Hope to Those With Severe Chronic Back and Neck Pain

In the scientific community, clinical trials are designed to test the safety and efficacy of various treatments using strict controls to measure results. Im proud of our companys participation with leading scientists in a wide variety of studies.

To design these studies, scientists will often publish reviews of prior research to help guide the development of future research. I also take great pride in our participation in these types of reviews. Back in February, BioXcellerator Chief Medical Officer Dr. Karolynn Halpert and our epidemiologist Dr. Santiago Saldarriaga were coauthors of a review on this topic published in the Journal of Stem Cells Research Development & Therapy.

That review, Regenerative Rehabilitation for COVID 19 Sequelae, discusses thevarious disease processes that can impair lung function, prior research on regenerative rehabilitative approaches to treating patients and the potential for stem cells to improve treatment outcomes.

One major theme of this review is how controlling inflammation that results from an overactive immune response might help more patients recover lung function and promote healing of damaged tissue caused by the Covid virus.

Related:This Is HowStem-CellTherapy Treats Serious Brain Injuries

The study we are currently working on is based on treating acute Covid-19 using a specific type of stem cell:mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from the Whartons Jelly in donated umbilical cords. Many years of research haveshown the potential of this type of stem cell for reducing harmful inflammation. Earlier research demonstrates how stem cells can modulate the bodys immune response, which may help prevent the production of excess cytokines that can trigger serious inflammation and ARDS. As that journal review explains, MSCs release anti-inflammatory signals and growth factors that may help prevent cell death by reducing that serious inflammation.

And other studies not of stem cells show that reducing systemic inflammation through other treatments may reduce plasma levels of these harmful cytokines and, in turn, may prevent the onset of ARDS or help more patients recover from it.

Whats more, weve developed proprietary protocols for enhancing the potency of the stem cells we use for treatment through a process that include screening stem cells from donated umbilical cords for specific biomarkers that indicate the highest possible potency, selecting only those cells that meet strict criteria for potency and quality, and refining and purifying these cells before reproducing them into infusions of millions of high-potency stem cells for treatment.

This approach has led to treatments for a wide range of diseases and disorders where reducing inflammation and modulating the bodys immune response can be effective at promoting healing.

So back to the question CNN asked. Can stem cells be effective at treating long Covid? Obviously, it will take far more research by many organizations to reach any definitive conclusion, but the question itself demonstrates the importance of understanding that while there are differences between acute disease and chronic conditions, in some cases, results from one study can influence the direction of later studies.

Its also a reflection of how the value of all of our research may be uncertain now, but often becomes clear in the future. Indeed, as Soren Kierkegaard once pointed out, life must be lived looking forward, but it can only be understood by looking back.

Im not sure exactly what well understand when we look back at this unprecedented global pandemic, but we know far more about the role of regenerative medicine and stem-cell therapy in treating a wide range of diseases and how all of usentrepreneurs, scientists and physicians can work together to make even more discoveries to improve the quality of our lives.

Related:The Future of Health: Why Age 100 Will Soon Become 'the New 60'

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Researching the Safety and Effectiveness of Stem Cells to ...

Ted Dawson, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurology and co-director of NeuroICE explains where we are in using stem cells to treat Parkinsons Disease.

Were creating induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from patients with Parkinsons disease with the intent of turning them into dopamine neurons that we can study in a dish and also put into animals. We want to see if human iPS derived neurons grown in culture or in a mouse can lead to disease, and if it can, to study the mechanisms of why cells degenerate and test our hypotheses, drugs and targets in human cells.

If you look at the work thats been done in neurodegenerative diseases in animal models, weve been good at slowing progression of disease, but when we go to humans, the trials fail. So why is that? Perhaps because in mice were able to intervene very early in the disease, but in humans were treating late. Maybe the treatment would work if we treated early in humans, but this would require the ability to diagnosis the disease prior to the onset of symptoms. The other possibility is that Parkinsons disease in a mouse is different than a man.

Using iPS cells we can test new therapies in human neurons for the first time. One of the reasons there have been tremendous new therapies with cancers is that scientists can biopsy human tumors and use those cells to design drugs. Now stem cells are putting us in a position to be able to study neurodegenerative diseases in a similar way.

For developmental diseases such as Down syndrome and schizophrenia, theres no question in my mind that iPS will change the ways those diseases are studied and treated. With an adult-onset neurodegenerative disorder that takes 50 years to develop in humans, the big question is whether an iPS cell will have Parkinsons disease after growing in a mouse for a few months. We just dont know. But we need to do the experiment.

Lots of people thought Parkinsons was going to be low hanging fruit for stem cell transplantation. But we still dont fully understand the transplantation process and how to optimize it. There needs to be a lot of work done to get to that point. And medical therapy for Parkinsons is so advanced that transplantation right now probably isnt going to be any better than what we can already do. But that doesnt mean we shouldnt be forging ahead, using stem cells to discover more about the disease in order to find new drugs as well as refine our ideas about transplantation.

--Interviewed by Maryalice Yakutchik

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Stem Cell Research at Johns Hopkins Medicine: Parkinsons Disease

Line graph. 64% of Americans think it is morally acceptable to conduct stem cell research, while 34% believe it is not.

Next, I'm going to read you a list of issues. Regardless of whether or not you think it should be legal, for each one, please tell me whether you personally believe that in general it is morally acceptable or morally wrong. How about medical research using stem cells obtained from human embryos?

As you may know, the federal government currently provides very limited funding for medical research that uses stem cells obtained from human embryos. Which would you prefer the government to do -- [ROTATED: place no restrictions on government funding of stem cell research, ease the current restrictions to allow more stem cell research, keep the current restrictions in place (or should the government) not fund stem cell research at all]?

Do you think the federal government should -- or should not -- fund research that would use newly created stem cells obtained from human embryos?

How closely have you followed the debate about government funding of stem cell research -- very closely, somewhat closely, not too closely or not closely at all?

As you may know, President Bush gave a speech on stem cell research, and he announced that he WOULD allow the government to fund research using stem cells that have been created in the past in a process that destroyed human embryos. The government WILL NOT fund stem cell research that would destroy additional embryos in the future. Overall, do you approve or disapprove of Bush's decision on stem cell research?

How important is the issue of stem cell research to you -- very important, somewhat important, not too important or not at all important?

Thinking about embryos that have been created in a laboratory by fertilizing a woman's egg outside the womb and have not been implanted in a woman's womb. Which comes closer to your view about this type of embryo -- [ROTATED: the embryo is a human life that should be given the same protection as all other human lives, (or) the embryo has the potential for life, but is not the same as a life, because it cannot develop on its own]?

As you may know, fertility clinics increase a woman's chance to have a child by fertilizing several embryos, but only a few are implanted in her womb to enable her to have a baby. Some stem cells are developed from the remaining embryos that the fertility clinics usually discard. Do you think the federal government should or should not fund research on stem cells from this kind of embryo?

Some stem cells are developed from embryos that are created in laboratories specifically for the purpose of conducting this research and not to help women have a child. Do you think the federal government should or should not fund research on stem cells from this kind of embryo?

Some stem cells may be developed from embryos produced by cloning cells from a living human being rather than by fertilizing a woman's egg. Do you think the federal government should or should not fund research on stem cells from this kind of embryo?

There is another kind of research using stem cells that come just from adults and do not come from embryos at all. The research results in no injury to the person from whom the stem cells are taken. Do you think the federal government should or should not fund research on this kind of stem cells?

For each of the following, please tell me if it is -- very important, somewhat important, not too important, or not at all important -- to you personally. How about -- Medical researchers finding cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's, diabetes, heart disease and spinal cord injury?

For each of the following, please tell me if it is -- very important, somewhat important, not too important, or not at all important -- to you personally. How about -- Preventing human embryos from being used in medical research?

One of the issues involved in this type of research is whether or not the embryos used were developed specifically for stem cell research. Do you think the federal government should or should not allow scientists to fertilize human eggs specifically for the purpose of creating new stem cells?

At least one other country currently allows scientists to create human embryos specifically for stem cell research. How concerned are you that other countries will gain a competitive advantage over the U.S. if the government does not allow U.S. scientists to do the same? Are you -- very concerned, somewhat concerned, not too concerned or not at all concerned?

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Fifty-four percent of Americans think the death penalty is morally acceptable, an all-time low in Gallup's 20-year trend.

While social liberals and social conservatives differ in their views of most moral issues, abortion and gay/lesbian relations are the most divisive.

Americans' perceptions of what is morally acceptable continue to grow more permissive, with their views on several issues the most liberal to date.

Unemployment can be particularly devastating for young adults in high-income countries.

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For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryJuly 19, 2006

Fact Sheet: President Bush's Stem Cell Research Policy

President Discusses Stem Cell Research Policy

Today, The President Signed A Bill That Draws A Clear Line Against One Of The Most Egregious Abuses In Biomedical Research And Vetoed A Bill That Attempts To Overturn His Balanced Stem Cell Research Policy:

President Bush Is The First President To Provide Federal Funding For Embryonic Stem Cell Research

In 2001, President Bush Set Forth A New Policy On Stem Cell Research That Struck A Balance Between The Needs Of Science And The Demands Of Conscience. In this new era, our challenge is to harness the power of science to ease human suffering without sanctioning practices that violate the dignity of human life.

Finding New Cures For Disease Does Not Require Destroying Human Embryos

Today, The President Met With Children Who Began Their Lives As Frozen Embryos Created For In Vitro Fertilization. These children were adopted while still embryos, and have been blessed with the chance to grow up in a loving family. They remind us of what is lost when embryos are destroyed in the name of research, that we all began our lives as a small collection of cells, and that America must never abandon our fundamental moral principles in our zeal for new treatments and cures.

Embryonic Stem Cells Come From Human Embryos That Are Destroyed For Their Cells. Each of these human embryos is a unique human life, with inherent dignity and matchless value.

With The Right Techniques And Policies, We Can Achieve Scientific Progress While Living Up To Our Ethical Responsibilities. America was founded on the principle that we are all created equal, and endowed by our Creator with the right to life. We can advance the cause of science while upholding this founding principle.

Since The President Announced His Policy In 2001, Advances In Scientific Research Have Also Shown The Great Potential Of Stem Cells That Are Derived Without Harming Human Embryos. The Administration has expanded the funding of research into stem cells that can be drawn from children, adults, and the blood in umbilical cords, with no harm to the donor - and these stem cells are already being used in medical treatments.

Researchers Are Now Also Investigating New Techniques That Could Allow Doctors And Scientists To Produce Stem Cells Just As Versatile As Those Derived From Human Embryos Without Requiring The Destruction Of These Embryos. One technique scientists are exploring would involve "reprogramming" an adult cell - for example, a skin cell - to function like an embryonic stem cell.

President Bush's Balanced Approach To Stem Cell Research Has Worked

The President's Policy Has Allowed Science To Explore The Potential Of Embryonic Stem Cells - And It Has Allowed America To Continue To Lead The World In This Area. Under the President's policy, 21 human embryonic stem cell lines are currently available for Federal funding, and are in use. Each of these lines can be replicated many times. As a result, the National Institutes of Health have helped make more than 700 shipments to researchers since 2001.

There Is No Ban On Embryonic Stem Cell Research. To the contrary, even critics of the President's policy concede that these Federally funded lines are being used in research every day by scientists across the world.

According To The Most Recent Data, From 1998 To 2004, 85 Percent Of Publications On Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Involved The Use Of Lines Approved For Funding By NIH. (Jason Owen-Smith and Jennifer McCormick, "An International Gap In Human ES Cell Research," Nature Biotechnology, April 2006)

According To The Most Recent Data, From 1998 To 2004, 46 Percent Of All Human Embryonic Stem Cell Studies Published Have Been Done In American Institutions. (Jason Owen-Smith and Jennifer McCormick, "An International Gap In Human ES Cell Research," Nature Biotechnology, April 2006)

The President Believes We Must Continue To Explore Hopeful Alternatives And Advance The Cause Of Scientific Research While Staying True To The Ideals Of A Decent And Humane Society. At a moment when ethical alternatives are becoming available, we cannot lose the opportunity to conduct research that would give hope to those suffering from terrible diseases and help move our Nation beyond the current controversies over embryonic stem cell research.

# # #

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Fact Sheet: President Bush's Stem Cell Research Policy

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Doctors at the Stem Cell Research Centre, Government Stanley Medical College Hospital (GSMCH), are in the process of recruiting patients for conducting phase I and II clinical trials of Stem Cell Therapy for end-stage liver disease to assess its safety and efficacy.

The clinical trial comes as a significant move as presently, liver transplant is the only treatment available for end-stage liver disease, but scarcity of donor organs necessitates alternative modalities. The Stem Cell Research Centre in July 2020 received approval from the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDCSO) to conduct clinical trials after animal trails showed promising results, said Dr S Jeswanth, Director, Institute of Surgical Gastroenterology and Principal Investigator, Stem Cell Research Centre, GSMCH.

Dr Secunda Rupert, Co-Investigator at Stem Cell Research Centre, GSMCH told TNIE that liver transplant is currently the only option for end-stage liver disease. Many patients are on the waiting list for liver transplant. So these stem cells can be used as a bridge till they get donor liver for transplant and in some cases, it can be a wholesome therapy. We have found that in acute liver disease, the results are good, the doctor added.

According to data from the Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN), there are 418 patients waiting for liver transplant in the State alone. The CDSCO gave approval and also directed to conduct more animal studies. We will first conduct them and then will start the clinical trials. We are in the process of recruiting patients for the trial. We couldnt recruit patients then because of the pandemic, said Secunda. A total of 30 patients will be recruited for clinical trials, and among them 15 will be put on Stem Cell Therapy and 15 on standard treatment, added Secunda.

Mesenchymal adult stem cells will be extracted from bone marrow of the patients and these will be cultured in the lab before being injected back into the patient, Secunda added. During animal studies, when we caused liver injury in the animal and injected the stem cells, there was an improvement in the injury. It showed these Mesenchymal adult stem cells can alleviate liver injury, Secunda further said.Jeswanth said the trial will be funded by the Tamil Nadu Innovative Initiative scheme (TANII).

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Chennai-based institute to begin clinical trial on stem cell therapy for liver disease - The New Indian Express

A lung transplant can mean the difference between life and death for people with diseases such as pulmonary fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and even severe COVID-19. Yet, recipients of donor lungs must take daily medications to stave off damage caused by their own immune system, which attacks the organs it recognizes as foreigna process known as rejection.

A new University of Michigan Health study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, has identified cells that appear to play a pivotal role in creating the scarring, or fibrosis, characteristic of chronic rejection following a lung transplant.

Almost 15 years ago, Vibha Lama, MBBS, M.S., a professor in the Division of Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine, and her lab described the presence of stem-cell-like cells, called mesenchymal stromal cells, in lung sample fluid from lung transplant recipients.

We found that even ten years post-transplant, these cells belonged to the donor, not the recipient, she explained. At that time, we had no clue where in the lung they were coming from or what role they played.

To figure this out, her lab generated a mouse model to recreate what happens within a lung transplant recipient. With the model, they followed a transcription factor known as FOXF1 as a sort of trail of breadcrumbs back to the cells original location.

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They discovered that these cells formed a reservoir of stem cells within the bronchovascular bundle deep inside the lung. These bundles contain a bronchus (airway), arteries, connective tissue and other structures and is the part of the lung which connects it to the outside environment.

In this study, explained Lama, who is senior author on the paper, they show that these specific stem cells are interacting with neighboring epithelial cells within that airway niche.

Epithelial cells line and protect the airways and produce a protein known as Sonic hedgehog. Via this protein, epithelial cells signal the stem-cell-like mesenchymal cells, which make up the scaffolding of the lungs, to make FOXF1, a repressor that keeps the stem cells in check.

We are just recently understanding that there are many different kinds of mesenchymal cells in the lung, said Lama. What we describe here is not only are there many kinds of mesenchymal cells, FOXF1 is retained only in these specific stem-cell-like cells.

In the case of lung transplant rejection, Lama hypothesized that immune cells from the recipient attack the epithelial cells which disrupts the balance between them and the mesenchymal cells.

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Because of the damage caused by rejection, the epithelial cells get damaged, Sonic hedgehog is reduced and that interrupts the signaling to the mesenchymal cells to keep quiet, she said. Because of that, these cells start dividing and they lay down more collagen, which leads to fibrotic scarring.

The work sets the stage for more research into the interaction of these cells with epithelial and other cells it their vicinity to further characterize what happens during chronic rejection and potentially how to prevent it. Furthermore, discovery of these cells is also important in understanding other airway diseases like asthma and COPD.

Paper cited: Transcription factor FOXF1 identifies compartmentally distinct mesenchymal cells with a role in lung allograft fibrogenesis, J Clin Invest. DOI: 10.1172/JCI147343

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Stem cells and their role in lung transplant rejection - Michigan Medicine

It is too late for conservation efforts to save the northern white rhinoceros, but with recent scientific advancements there may still be hope to bring back this beloved species. In a recently published paper, scientist Marisa Korody and her colleagues at San Diego Zoo Global (USA) and at the Department of Molecular Medicine at Scripps Research (USA) describe their exciting progress on using stem cells to revive the northern white rhino.

The northern white rhino is functionally extinct, meaning there are not enough of these rhinos left to save the species. In fact there are only two northern white rhinos left: a mother and a daughter. But for decades, scientists have preserved cell samples from 15 northern white rhinos containing enough genetic material to potentially bring this species back from the brink. These preserved samples hold fibroblast cells the type of skin cells that secrete collagen from white rhinos. With these scientists newly developed methods, fibroblast cells can be converted into something much more valuable: induced pluripotent stem cells. These stem cells can differentiate into any cell type in the body including heart cells, muscle cells, and reproductive cells.

In theory, by converting fibroblast cells into reproductive cells, scientists could create genetically unique rhino embryos. Alongside other assisted reproduction technologies, scientists could implant a new embryo into a closely-related southern white rhino, where the baby northern white rhino could develop as an otherwise normal pregnancy. By completing this process multiple times, scientists may be able to establish a stable population of northern white rhinos.

In 2011, this research team generated induced pluripotent stem cells from the samples of another endangered species, but unfortunately since this process was found to harm the recipient genomes, this method was largely unsuccessful. Despite this setback, in 2015 the authors met with colleagues worldwide to consider ways to save the northern white rhino, and they concluded that methods involving induced pluripotent stem cells may still be the most promising solution. Over the following years, the scientists worked to improve their methods, and these improvements are documented in their recent paper. These experiments represent the first step in a long-term plan to bring the northern white rhino back through assisted reproduction techniques.

Right from the start, the scientists faced a whole host of challenges. Through trial and error they modified the growth medium for the cells, optimizing it for rhinoceros cells. With their improved growth medium, scientists successfully generated induced pluripotent stem cell lines from 11 rhinoceros individuals. This has never been done before and represents a huge stride forward in the path to recovering this species.

Before trying to make their first rhino, the scientists needed to stress these induced pluripotent stem cells and sequence their genomes to determine if the cell quality is good enough to potentially produce new, viable rhinos. They maintained colonies of these cells in long-term cultures and exposed these colonies to different conditions to give insight into how resilient these cells could be. These tests demonstrated that long-term culture did not affect the potential for these cells to differentiate into cardiac lineage cells, confirming that these cells are stable long-term. The researchers also confirmed that these pluripotent cells could potentially produce gametes, the egg and sperm cells that are used for sexual reproduction. These advancements indicate that with these newly developed protocols, induced pluripotent stem cells are a promising tool that could someday help recover the northern white rhino.

Although this study includes some exciting results, there is still much work to do. For example, scientists must now sequence the genomes of the northern and southern white rhino so other researchers can analyze the stem cells ability to stay the same over time. Despite the work that still needs to be done, these promising advancements could someday help the northern white rhino population recover. This method may also work for saving other endangered or extinct species, as long as the genetic material needed is available. Long-term, these scientists plan to continue a series of experiments that could ultimately bring this beloved rhino, and potentially other endangered species, back from the brink of extinction.

Excerpt from:
Stem cells may be the key to saving white rhinos from extinction - Sciworthy