Politics
Wednesday January 5, 2005
Taiwanese Research Team Finds New Source of Stem Cells in Placenta
TODAY'S HEADLINES
E-MAIL
PRINT
TAIPEI, January 5, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The two possible sources of stem cells, "adult" or post-natal stem cells and those derived from living embryos, have caused a conflict in the scientific community, setting ethics against hoped-for scientific advancement.
Now a group of Taiwanese researchers has isolated stem cells from human placenta tissue and has found that their flexibility may be the equal of embryonic cells. The scientists, from National Health Research Institutes and Cathay General Hospital, Taipei, have isolated stem cells from placentas left after full term pregnancy and offer them as a solution to the ethical impasse.
The researchers have developed bone marrow and other cells from the stem cells extracted from the placenta and say that there may be future applications for brain damage or bone fractures.
The newly discovered cells, called placenta-derived multipotent cells (PDMCs), are available from an organ that is normally discarded after birth. "Unlike embryonic stem cells, PDMCs are free from ethical considerations," said Chen Yao-chang, head of the National Health Research Institutes' Stem Cell Research Center, told reporters.
Much like cord blood, this source of stem cells may be applicable in a variety therapies without the dangers of tissue rejection common to embryonic and fetal cell transplants. The cells are also available without the painful and difficult surgery necessary to extract stem cells from bone marrow.
Read the research abstract in
The International Journal of Cell Differentiation and Proliferation:
http://stemcells.alphamedpress.org/cgi/content/abstract/23/1/3
hw
Back to TopLatest Headlines
- Cardinal George Denounces "New Ways Ministry" as Pseudo-Catholic Organization
- “Bogus Compassion” is Killing Children and Corrupting Society: Belgian Philosopher
- Irony: 19-Child Duggar Family Renting Former Home of Local Planned Parenthood Leader
- Document Reveals Inconsistencies in ND's Jenkins Claims on ND88
- New Country Music Star Born as Pro-Life Ballad Climbs the Charts
- Future of Pontifical Academy for Life at Stake as Members Meet in Closed Door Session
- Rally Planned in Defence of Canadian Pro-Life Ad
- Commentary on February 8 News
- U.K.’s Conservative Leader Pledges Full Support to Gay Agenda
- B.C. Civil Liberties Association Goes to Bat for Pro-Life Student Club
- Police Refuse to Release Federal "Threat Assessment" on Wis. Pro-Lifers
- Canadian Human Rights Commission Appeals Ruling against Hate Messages Statute
- Homosexual Activist Keith Norton Dies at 69
- Malta Celebrates 32nd Pro-Life Day
- My Vote for Best Pro-life Super Bowl Ad: Google’s Parisian Love Story
- Pope: Family Necessary for Child Development
- Letters to the Editor
Most Read this Week
- Veterans, Former Army Legal Chief Defend “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
- Planned Parenthood President Lands Spot on Ford Foundation Board
- Rabbis Warn against 'Disaster' of Open Homosexuality in the Military
- Football Pros Give Support to Tim Tebow Super Bowl Ad
- Clash of the Abortion Titans: Planned Parenthood Launches 'Pro-Choice' Football Ad
- Canadian Station Pulls Pro-Life Ad – Too “Graphic”
- Hijacking the Brain — How Pornography Works
- Group Exposes Media "Fraud" at March for Life
- U.S. Sisters in Crisis after Embracing “Secular Culture”: Vatican Cardinal
- NYT: Rampant Polygamy in Gay 'Marriage' May Benefit Institution
MORE NEWS: 
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page Last 10 Days Archives Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.