MOSCOW, December 6, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Russian news agency Novosti reported Monday that Russian scientists have succeeded in treating six individuals bed-ridden with spinal cord damage using non-embryonic stem cells derived from the patient’s own nasal tissues. All six are learning to walk again.
Scientists at the Neurology Clinic of Russia’s Blokhin Oncology Research Center removed neural stem cells from the lining of the nose, which were then grown in tissue culture. The resulting cells were injected into damaged areas of the spine, re-growing damaged spinal segments one at a time. “No one has done anything like that before us,” Andrei Bryukhovetsky, Director General of the Neurology Clinic said. Also, when implanted into damaged cardiac muscle after a heart-attack, stem cells can fully restore the muscles of the heart without any scar tissue, according to Vladimir Smirnov, Director of the Experimental Cardiology Institute at the Russian Health Ministry. tv