NEW YORK, May 4, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Two new studies have shown yet again that there are ethical sources of stem cells, negating the push for the nightmarish use of living human embryos for such research. Ethical stem cell research can thus be conducted using stem cells from bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, placentas, human fat tissue, and the brain cells from deceased adults.
In a study published in the journal Cell today, lead researchers, Dr. Neil Theise of New York University School of Medicine and Dr. Diane Krause of Yale University School of Medicine, show that stem cells derived from adult bone marrow could be the best master cells discovered to date. In an experiment, mice were radiated, destroying their bone marrow and damaging various organs. A single stem cell was then introduced into these mice, which differentiated not only into bone marrow and blood cells, but also into lung, esophagus, stomach, small and large intestine, liver and skin cells. The researchers note that, in addition to avoiding the ethical problems of stem cells derived from embryos or aborted baby tissue, bone marrow is “readily available, replenishes itself rapidly and [the procedure is] relatively non-invasive.”
Another study published in the May 3 issue of the journal Nature shows that stem cells can be extracted “from the brains of dead people”. Fred Gage, of the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California notes that the cells extracted from nine cadavers ranging in age from 11 weeks to 71 years, that had been dead for as long as 20 hours, were able to develop into three different types of brain cells, which could then be transplanted to people with disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.
See the bone marrow coverage in the Baltimore Sun at: https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te. cells04may04.story?coll=bal%2Dnews%2Dnation
See the cadaver study coverage at: https://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/abc/20010502/hl/braincells010502_1.html