About two decades ago, it became “fashionable” to save the umbilical cord when a new baby was born. The cells from the cord were harvested and saved should a familial member in fact need stem cell therapy in the future. To be honest, most of the saved cells were used for siblings, not the actual child from which the cord was saved.
Tag Archives: stem cells
Stem Cell Research Still Is Stymied
You’ve heard me rant that the political climate is making it difficult for us to effect regenerative medicine. You know, using stem cell technology to create new hearts, joints, spinal cords, kidney, livers, etc. is what we really need to allow.
Breakthrough!
Tell me again that we can’t use stem cells…
Just like we did two decades ago- right before the s…t hit the fan and stem cell research was outlawed. We made a (very crude) kidney using stem cells. Now, folks smarter and more skilled than us are taking the steps to truly make dialysis a thing of the past.
SNAFU
Rant time.
This malarkey that blocks scientists and engineers from performing stem cell experiments is setting back patient care. Leaving folks desperate for transplants to die.
To the rescue- and it’s not mighty mouse
Not exactly the news for which we hoped.
Most of us know in our bones that stem cells can provide a great deal of benefit for us. Whether we grow those stem cells to create new kidneys or new hearts to deal with our ailing folks or use stem cells to create new skin for those who have suffered terrible burns, we look forward to the day that stem cell research will be fully allowed.
Animal or Vegetable, Redux?
There are two firms (at least) planning to invade our supermarkets with lab grown meat.
That’s different from the folks who are creating hamburgers and the like from vegetable sources. These firms are starting from animal stem cells, growing them in the lab with a synthetic bovine fetal serum, and wait until the tissue is formed. (One firm is using real bovine fetal serum- but the synthetic version has some special advantages- at least for Jewish folks.)
Not Scientific At All
Here we go again.
A carefully crafted program, one that allowed just a few centers to effect critical research with real stem cells is about to get the axe.
Patch me up, doc!
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the USA- for men and for women. 1 in 4 of us will succumb to this problem. Coronary heart disease (CHD) accounts for half of these ailments.
Slowly…The wheels are starting to turn
It’s been about four years. And, believe it or not, the FDA still has not shut down these fly-by-night stem cell clinics. They never even filed for a TRO (temporary restraining order).
Caveat Emptor?
If you’ve been reading my blog for more than a few months, then you know that I am a strong proponent for the use of stem cells to improve our health.