Politics
Tuesday January 20, 2009
Adult Stem Cell Therapy may Treat AIDS
TODAY'S HEADLINES
E-MAIL
PRINT
By Hilary White
January 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Research will be presented this week at the Stem Cell World Congress in Palm Springs, California, that purports to show that AIDS might be treated using stem cells taken from the patient’s own body. The researchers say they hope that a single transplant treatment would be available that would permanently prevent the immunodeficiency that is a result of HIV infection.
Dr. David DiGiusto, director of haematopoietic cell therapies at City of Hope Medical Centre in Duarte, California, said that although the possibility of a widespread treatment halting the progression of the disease is still at least a decade away, “we hope that eventually we will be able to give AIDS patients just one transplant and that would then protect them for life.”
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a sexually-transmitted infection that attacks the white blood cells which play a central role in the immune system by fighting other forms of infection. Over time the number of these cells in the body decreases as the virus spreads and the immune system stops working. Most patients are rendered unable to fight off infections themselves and usually die of opportunistic illnesses such as pneumonia or cancers such as lymphoma.
The study showed that three genes that protect cells against attack from HIV can be imported into stem cells taken from bone marrow, which are capable of forming all types of blood cells, including the white blood cells. The patient’s bodies then begin to produce new white blood cells that carry these anti-HIV genes that are resistant to attack from HIV.
A trial of the therapy was carried out in patients with AIDS-related lymphoma. Dr. DiGiusto said, “What we are doing is genetically modifying a fraction of the patient's stem cells with genes that target three different aspects of HIV that allow it to get into the immune cells and replicate.
“When those stem cells are transplanted into patients, they create mature immune cells that circulate in the patient and protect against HIV.”
Back to TopLatest Headlines
- "Manhattan Declaration" Embodies U.S. Christian Pushback against Abortion, Same-Sex "Marriage"
- Hoffman Loses Final Tally of NY-23 Race; Alleges ACORN Tampering and Fraud
- Abortion Activist Judge Hamilton Confirmed with Help of Ten Republican Senators
- CDC Reverses Gardasil Vaccine Requirement for Immigrants
- Germany Faces Economic Downturn with Plummeting Birth Rate and Aging Population
- CCHD in Archdiocese of Chicago Says it is Working to Fix Problems
- Rejection of Washington DC Marriage Referendum Challenged With Legal Suit
- Obama-Supporting Homosexual Activist to Out Sexually Involved Priests Unless they Support Gay 'Marriage
- Austrian Catholic Bishops Issue Bland Response to Govt's Homosexual Partnership Bill
- Interim Report on Catholic Sex-Abuse Says "Homosexual Identity" Not a Predictor of Sex Abuse
- LSN NewsBytes - US Health Care Reform
- LSN NewsBytes - Climate Change/Global Warming
- Pro-Abortion Lawmakers Shower Praise on Senate Bill's Phony Abortion Compromise
- 59 Bishops Contributed Financially to Maine Bishop's Effort to Oppose Maine Same-Sex "Marriage" Law
Most Read this Week
- Largest U.S. Homosexual Publisher Shuts Down, Closing Major Gay Newspapers
- Italian Mayors Order Crufixes Put in Classrooms in Revolt against European Court Ruling
- EWTN's Arroyo Hosts Reform CCHD Reps Who Reveal Shocking Evidence Against USCCB Anti-Poverty Arm
- Nat'l Organization for Marriage Responds to Miss California "Sex Tape" Scandal
- Obama Evades Questioning on Stupak Amendment in FOX Interview
- French Judge Finds Hospital Guilty of "Unreasonable Obstinacy" in Saving Newborn's Life
- EU Leaders to Choose President today in Secret "Soviet Style" Meetings
- Hoffman "Unconcedes" Battle for NY-23: Recount Provides Hope for "Miracle" Victory
- CCHD Responds to Reform Movement
- White House Advisor Indicates Obama Will Work to Abolish Pro-Life Health Amendment
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.