Facial Bones Grown From Fat-Derived Stem Cells 106
TheClockworkSoul sends in an article up at Scientific American, from which we quote: "Stem cells so far have been used to mend tissues ranging from damaged hearts to collapsed tracheas. Now the multifaceted cells have proved successful at regrowing bone in humans. In the first procedure of its kind, doctors at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center replaced a 14-year-old boy's missing cheekbones — in part by repurposing stem cells from his own body. To create the new bones, which have become part of the patient's own skull structure and have remained securely in place for four and a half months, the medical team used a combination of fat-derived stem cells, donated bone scaffolds, growth factors, and bone-coating tissue. The technique, should it be approved for widespread use, could benefit some seven million people in the US who need more bone — everyone from cancer patients to injured war veterans."
Re:Cool (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Cool (Score:2, Insightful)
And imagine those brains that become "inelastic" and slower to learn. Imagine having a body that is immortal, but a brain that is slowly losing function.
Re:Is there? (Score:4, Insightful)
is there really any reason to be against embryonic stem cells now that they can be harvested without embryo destruction, or are made from sources that would be completely discarded anyway? Really, if we could move some of the less informed political activists for less wharrgarbl we could do a lot more with both types of stem cells.
Re:Bone tissue vs bones (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Cool (Score:3, Insightful)
And imagine those brains that become "inelastic" and slower to learn. Imagine having a body that is immortal, but a brain that is slowly losing function.
If we can fix the body so that it no longer ages, then we can fix the brain so that it no longer ages.
Re:Another success. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Another success. (Score:3, Insightful)
Tell me again why we need embryonic stem cells.
Tell me again why you're asking on slashdot instead of reading a scientific paper on the benefits of ESC research? Tell me you don't rely on /. comments for ALL your information on important subjects of the day.
Re:Too bad... (Score:2, Insightful)
What? Having the medical market effectively subsidized by government will not reduce the money to be made in the market, it will increase it. If there's anyone to profit from the reform, it's the medical industry. You'll pay more for it in the end, but that very fact means that the medical industry will make more money from it, and therefore will have more incentive to develop it.