Some of the Latest Breakthroughs in Stem Cell Research

Stem cell research was brought to light for me about 4 1/2 yrs. ago, when my youngest brother was diagnosed with a very rare form of leukemia. The doctors at Dana Farber Medical Center In Boston told my brother his only chance of survival would be stem cell replacement therapy. One of my younger sisters was the match my brother needed for the stem cell procedure. It was performed, and today, more then 4 yrs. later, my brother is cancer free and living a very normal life. Unfortunately my sister that was the stem cell donor lost her life a year later in a tragic car accident. Stem cell research has made many medical advances since that time. Here is a list of just a few of those advances.

1. UCI researchers have created a retina from human embryonic stem cells.

UC Irvine scientists have created an 8 layer early stage retina from human embryonic stem cells, the first 3 dimensional tissue structure to be made from stem cells. It also marks the first step toward the development of transplant-ready retina to treat eye disorders such as retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration that affects millions. "This is a major advance in our quest to treat retinal disease", said Hans Keirstead and Sue and Bill Gross of the Reeve-Irvine Research Center. Creating this complex tissue is a first for the stem cell field. They went on to say that what is so exciting about this discovery is that creating transplantable retinas from stem cells could help millions of people and they're well on the way to accomplishing that. The UCI researchers are testing the early stage retinas in animal models to learn how much they improve vision. Positive results would lead to human clinical trails. This article was published on May 25,2010 through the University of California-Irvine. It can be viewed on www. breakthrough digest.com/stem cell research.

2.Two stunning & unexpected dividends surrounding stem cells.

On Mar.18,2010, CBS news reported this news on new stem cell breakthroughs; the ability to study diseases in a petrie dish and a new way to think about cancer. Human embryonic stem cells (HES) are collected from unused embryos created by in-vitro fertilization. After working for about 2 yrs. scientists figured out a way to turn ordinary skin cells into stem cells. These stem cells called IPS cells are not identical to HES cells and may not be quite as nimble in morpling into other cells, but they are electrifying the field because diseases can now be studied outside the body-in a petrie dish. Researchers have taken skin from patients with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and turned them into stem cells, then turned the stem cells into the kind of nerve cells(motor neurons) damaged in the disease. For the first time they can study living nerves from somebody with ALS and see how they differ from normal nerves. This work is going full stream ahead now in a cooperative effort between Harvard and Columbia researchers, orchestrated and supported by project ALS.That same report went on talking about "adult stem cells". They are found in many organs, including the breast, colon and blood. Researchers have discovered that these normal stem cells can produce cancer stem cells that then create cancer cells like leukemia, colon and breast cancer. One reason why this discovery is so important is that it may explain why cancers recur despite chemotherapy. Even if everything goes right, the CBS report goes on to say, therapies based on all this newly discovered stem cell biology won't be widely available for years, but with patients desperate for solutions now, their best hope is for us to support basic scientific research.

The data for this report on new stem cell breakthroughs can be found on New Stem Cell Breakthroughs-CBS News-"Where America Stands: Stem Cell Research"- Mar. 18,2010 news, also breakthrough digest.com/category/stem cell research-May 25, 2010, and Dana Farber/Harvard Center(DF/HCC) which is the largest comprehensive cancer center in the world.

Sources:

New Stem Cell Breakthroughs-CBS News
breakthrough digest.com/stem cell research
Dana Farber Medical Institute
personal experience