"Miraculous" Stem Cell Progress Reported In China 429
destinyland writes "In China's Guangdong Province there's been 'almost miraculous' progress in actually using stem cells to treat diseases such as brain injury, cerebral palsy, ataxia and other optic nerve damage, lower limb ischemia, autism, spinal muscular atrophy, and multiple sclerosis. One Chinese biotech company, Beike, is now building a 21,500 square foot stem cell storage facility and hiring professors from American universities such as Stanford. Two California families even flew their children to China for a cerebral palsy treatment that isn't available in the US. The founder of Beike is so enthusiastic, he says his company is exploring the concept of using stem cells to extend longevity beyond 120 years."
Re:A Dying Breed (Score:5, Informative)
> Republican conservatives move to block stem cell research
It's embryonic stem cell research that conservatives don't like. Adult stem cell research is fine.
Embyonic vs. Adult. (Score:5, Informative)
Unless I misread the article. It seems they found a way to make Adult Stem Cells behave like embryonic stem cells.
The moral issue of Stem Cells isn't the Stem Cells but the fact that if you needed Embryonic Stem Cells you needed to Abort/Terminate/Kill/(whatever verb you think best describes the process) the fetus.
As the anti-abortion groups see abortions as killing a human life, it makes it a situation where you kill one human life to save an other or many, which is a huge ethical dilemma.
Now if you can make adult Stem Cells work like Embryonic then the issue to the ethics is reduced, taking most major religions out of the fight. Only leaving a few Right Wing Crazies who will not even try to understand the difference.
The kind of article I'd like to see more often (Score:5, Informative)
Props to the submitter.
By the way, if this is even one-tenth as good as it looks in the article, it'll be awesome. For example, from the article:
One example is the recovery of a nearly blind sixteen-year-old girl, Macie Morse, who recently got her learnerâ(TM)s permit and started driving.
She came to one of our hospitals for treatment in July 2006, with 20/4,000 vision in one eye and only light perception in the other due to optic nerve hypoplasia.
After treatment, Macie now has 20/80 vision in one eye and 20/400-plus in the other!
Re:A Dying Breed (Score:5, Informative)
I guess it's going to be a true test of ideals as Republican conservatives move to block stem cell research ... as they approach age 75.
With this development in China, suddenly playing god might not sound so bad.
From TFA:
As of February 2009, Beike has treated over 5,087 patients with cord blood stem cell injections for diseases like ataxia, autism, ALS, brain trauma, cerebral infarction, cerebral hemorrhage, cerebral palsy, diabetics, Guillain-Barre, encephalatropy, and spinal cord injury â" many of these are considered incurable diseases.
Cord blood stem cells was NOT under any restrictions from the previous administration. For that matter, the Bush administration was the first US administration to fund this type of stem cell research.
I understand your desire to blame everything on Republicans, but you should really try to give credit where credit is due and stop making stuff up to make them look bad.
Re:A Dying Breed (Score:5, Informative)
It's not even embryonic stem cell research. It's destruction of embryos. Meaning:
1.) Bush's policy was to fund ESCR from already-existing lines.
2.) There are various attempts [wikipedia.org] to derive ESC lines that don't require destruction of embryos.
Re:A Dying Breed (Score:5, Informative)
And the article seems to indicate that the treatment was done with adult stem cells.
Dr. Hu - "In 2004, after three years of clinical studies observing more than 100 cases, I decided to build a company to supply and work on safe adult stem cells."
Dr. Hu - "As of February 2009, Beike has treated over 5,087 patients with cord blood stem cell injections"
Dr. Hu - "After all these years of observation and practice, I consider adult stem cell-based therapy to be safe."
Dr. Hu - "We will set the standard and criteria for R&D in developing adult stem cells and iPS."
Dr. Hu - "The adult stem cells we use are safe."
Dr. Hu's only mention of embryonic stem cells is the following....
Dr. Hu - "I think Geron's FDA clearance to begin the world's first human clinical trial of embryonic stem cell-based therapy is great news for the entire stem cell industry. More competition is inevitable."
The significance here is that China doesn't have the same restrictions regarding human testing that the US does. They've jumped into it faster, and Dr. Hu has been using adult stem cells rather than embryonic. According to this article, the only negative side effect to having an embryonic stem cell ban is that it reduces competition.
Re:Embyonic vs. Adult. (Score:5, Informative)
The moral issue of Stem Cells isn't the Stem Cells but the fact that if you needed Embryonic Stem Cells you needed to Abort/Terminate/Kill/(whatever verb you think best describes the process) the fetus.
Actually, you're playing right into the hands of the pro-life movement by saying that.
It is NOT (repeat NOT) that you needed to kill/abort the fetus so as to get stem cells.
The fetus was aborted already. It is now medical waste. The only question is if you can use the medical waste to save lives, or not.
The distinction is an important one, but one which is all to easily overlooked by those who wish to perpetrate the image of scientists aborting fetuses so they can get their hands on those precious stem cells.
Re:A Dying Breed (Score:3, Informative)
With this development in China, suddenly playing god might not sound so bad.
Actually, immortality has always been a big deal in Chinese mythology and history. Many real life Chinese Emperors tried everything from drinking mercury to sending out massive expeditions searching for mythical islands or legendary items in hopes to live forever.
Re:Dumb Question... (Score:4, Informative)
how are stem cell treatments suppose to work?
Using the intarwebs? YOU FAIL IT!!! [wikipedia.org]
Re:A Dying Breed (Score:5, Informative)
And it's not even destruction of embryos that was prevented. It's federal funding of same. This has to be one of the least understood and most poorly reported issues of the entire Bush administration.
Re:A Dying Breed (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Observe and learn (Score:5, Informative)
China just beat us there. Regardless of your personal morals, you can't deny that we jumped on the brake, China didn't, and now we're sending them our professors.
As I stated earlier, this research was from cord blood stem cells, not embryonic stem cells. The federal government under GWBush funded this type of research and only banned funding from embryonic stem cells coming from new lines.
You know that, and I know that, and you can say this until you're blue in the face, but the hard core Bush bashers probably aren't going to listen. They'll still believe and repeat the lie that Bush "banned" all "stem cell research" to the day they die, just as a good many of them actually believe Sarah Palin really said "I can see Russia from my house" - when in fact it was comedian Tina Fey who said that in a skit on SNL.
Vitriol flows better when truth doesn't get in it's way.
I'm not even a "pro-life" conservative, for that matter; I'm just sick and tired of hearing this disinformation repeated ad nasueum.
The truth is, Bush didn't ban stem cell research. Bush didn't even ban embryonic stem cell research. He only banned federal level funding for it. The States and the private sector were free to do as they pleased.
Further, he didn't even ban federal funding for research on existing lines of embryonic stem cells, only on new lines.
And all other forms of stem cell research, and their funding (cord, adult) were not restricted whatsoever.
Re:The U.S. lost ground by not doing what? (Score:2, Informative)
Don't believe anything that the Chinese say! (Score:1, Informative)
Lying commie bastards!
Everything they say, write, claim, etc.
They are a brutal, repressive, authoritarian, Stalinesque regime and nothing that comes out of their state sponsored PR/spin machine is anything more than propaganda.
Comment removed (Score:2, Informative)
Re:A Dying Breed (Score:3, Informative)
Namely: It's about legalized organlegging [wikipedia.org]. As treatments emerge, we'll find out whether they're willing to sacrifice other human beings for their own health & longevity.
Let's be clear on three things:
1. You get ESC from 5 day old blastocysts. Not embryos from pregnant women. These embryos have to come from in vitro fertilization, by the time you can tell you're pregnant, even with a blood test, you can't extract ESC from that embryo: they've already turned used up their ESC. This will not lead to abortions, because if you know you have an embryo, it's useless as far as ESC goes.
2. ESC lines have been established. You won't need to destroy an embryo each time you need ESC, just use from the existing lines.
3. Induced pluripotent stem cells and adult stem cells will probably make the debate over ESC much ado about nothing as far as treatments go, but ESC have been invaluable to research already.
So... no, fortunately I think we will be able to leave this annoying debate unresolved.
Re:Observe and learn (Score:2, Informative)
On a side note, Palin did actually say she could see Russia from Alaska and that it helped her foreign policy experience. It just didn't get mocked verbatim by SNL. I can understand why there would be the confusion since so often SNL had no need to tweak what she said to make fun of it.
Re:So...he was a backward fuckwad with limited rea (Score:2, Informative)
Re:A Dying Breed (Score:3, Informative)
Re:A Dying Breed (Score:3, Informative)
1.) Prevent the release of the egg.
2.) Make it more difficult for sperm to reach the egg.
3.) Affect the endometrial wall, making it more difficult for the blastocyst to implant.
The third one can only happen if the first two fail, so it's not the primary mechanism, but that's where the concern is with emergency contraceptives. (Note: There's also some controversy over the significance of the third mechanism.)
bwhahahahaa (Score:3, Informative)
>To ridicule those that value religion, you are rejecting that which
>preventss them from forcing you into their "hocus pocus sham".
Crock. Of. Shit. Freedom OF religion also means freedom FROM religion. The Bill of Rights does not enshrine religion, it neuters it, and rightfully so.
Yes, you have the right to worship whatever you like. Of course I also have the right to point out it's all fairy tales and magic worship.