The Raelian Movement
for those who are not afraid of the future : http://www.rael.org
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Adult Stem Cells That Do Not Age
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101001144205.htm
ScienceDaily (Oct. 3, 2010) — Biomedical researchers at the University
at Buffalo have engineered adult stem cells that scientists can grow
continuously in culture, a discovery that could speed development of
cost-effective treatments for diseases including heart disease,
diabetes, immune disorders and neurodegenerative diseases.
UB scientists created the new cell lines -- named "MSC Universal" --
by genetically altering mesenchymal stem cells, which are found in
bone marrow and can differentiate into cell types including bone,
cartilage, muscle, fat, and beta-pancreatic islet cells.
The researchers say the breakthrough overcomes a frustrating barrier
to progress in the field of regenerative medicine: The difficulty of
growing adult stem cells for clinical applications.
Because mesenchymal stem cells have a limited life span in laboratory
cultures, scientists and doctors who use the cells in research and
treatments must continuously obtain fresh samples from bone marrow
donors, a process both expensive and time-consuming. In addition,
mesenchymal stem cells from different donors can vary in performance.
The cells that UB researchers modified show no signs of aging in
culture, but otherwise appear to function as regular mesenchymal stem
cells do -- including by conferring therapeutic benefits in an animal
study of heart disease. Despite their propensity to proliferate in the
laboratory, MSC-Universal cells did not form tumors in animal testing.
"Our stem cell research is application-driven," says Techung Lee, PhD,
UB associate professor of biochemistry and biomedical engineering in
the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and the School of
Engineering and Applied Sciences, who led the project. "If you want to
make stem cell therapies feasible, affordable and reproducible, we
know you have to overcome a few hurdles. Part of the problem in our
health care industry is that you have a treatment, but it often costs
too much. In the case of stem cell treatments, isolating stem cells is
very expensive. The cells we have engineered grow continuously in the
laboratory, which brings down the price of treatments."
UB has applied for a patent to protect Lee's discovery, and the
university's Office of Science, Technology Transfer and Economic
Outreach (UB STOR) is discussing potential license agreements with
companies interested in commercializing MSC-Universal.
Stem cells help regenerate or repair damaged tissues, primarily by
releasing growth factors that encourage existing cells in the human
body to function and grow.
Lee's ongoing work indicates that this feature makes it feasible to
repair tissue damage by injecting mesenchymal stem cells into skeletal
muscle, a less invasive procedure than injecting the cells directly
into an organ requiring repair. In a rodent model of heart failure,
Lee and collaborators showed that intramuscular delivery of
mesenchymal stem cells improved heart chamber function and reduced
scar tissue formation.
UB STOR commercialization manager Michael Fowler believes
MSC-Universal could be key to bringing new regenerative therapies to
the market. The modified cells could provide health care professionals
and pharmaceutical companies with an unlimited supply of stem cells
for therapeutic purposes, Fowler says.
Lee says his research team has generated two lines of MSC-Universal
cells: a human line and a porcine line. Using the engineering
technique he and colleagues developed, scientists can generate an
MSC-Universal line from any donor sample of mesenchymal stem cells, he
says. "I imagine that if these cells become routinely used in the
future, one can generate a line from each ethnic group for each gender
for people to choose from," Lee says.
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and New
York State Stem Cell Science (NYSTEM).
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by
ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by University at Buffalo,
via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
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"Ethics" is simply a last-gasp attempt by deist conservatives and
orthodox dogmatics to keep humanity in ignorance and obscurantism,
through the well tried fermentation of fear, the fear of science and
new technologies.
There is nothing glorious about what our ancestors call history,
it is simply a succession of mistakes, intolerances and violations.
On the contrary, let us embrace Science and the new technologies
unfettered, for it is these which will liberate mankind from the
myth of god, and free us from our age old fears, from disease,
death and the sweat of labour.
Rael
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