Stem Cell Science

I try to provide some levity and diversion on Fridays, but after working till 2am, I’m feeling thoughtful. I have marveled this week at announcements from the world of science, which I want to share with you.

Stem cells have been a controversial political issue for some, but–beyond cloning–we are starting to see some of the fruits of stem cell research. And I am astonished at what is possible.

First up, an interesting story in the treatment of AIDS. “Doctors in Berlin are reporting that they cured a man of AIDS by giving him transplanted blood stem cells from a person naturally resistant to the virus.” The Times article goes on to explain that this treatment is “novel” but not scalable.

“The patient, a 42-year-old American resident in Germany, also has leukemia, which justified the high risk of a stem-cell transplant. Such transplants require wiping out a patient’s immune system, including bone marrow, with radiation and drugs; 10 to 30 percent of those getting them die.”

Still, it’s a fascinating look at the promise of stem cells. Here’s another, in which a patient received a windpipe transplant and avoided taking anti-rejection drugs–which can have severe side-effects–by removing the donor’s cells from the windpipe and regrowing cells from the patient’s own stem cells.

“Martin Birchall, a professor at [Bristol U]niversity, said the transplant showed ‘the very real potential for adult stem cells and tissue engineering to radically improve their ability to treat patients with serious diseases. We believe this success has proved that we are on the verge of a new age in surgical care.’”

“The patient has not developed antibodies to her graft, despite not taking any immunosuppressive drugs,” a university statement reported.

Returning to the political implications of stem cell research, an MSNBC.com opinion article mused, “Obama’s election has brought the fight over embryonic stem cell research in the U.S. to an end.”

The main thrust of Dr. Arthur Caplan’s piece is that the election “represents an important moment in public bioethics in America. Like it or not — and I am well aware that many are not ready to let go of these issues — the nation may be starting to move past the endless battles over stem cells, embryos and abortion. Stem cell research in all forms is proceeding. Embryos are not going to be given legal status as persons. Further restrictions on abortion are unlikely.”

Bonus science article: What would you do with $10 million? Also fascinating–and ironic with the recent death of Michael Crichton (of Jurassic Park)–is the concept of regenerating a mammoth from reconstructed DNA.

“[T]hese old collections are full of items that may contain ancient DNA that can be decoded by the new generation of DNA sequencing machines.

“If the genome of an extinct species can be reconstructed, biologists can work out the exact DNA differences with the genome of its nearest living relative. There are talks on how to modify the DNA in an elephant’s egg so that after each round of changes it would progressively resemble the DNA in a mammoth egg. The final-stage egg could then be brought to term in an elephant mother, and mammoths might once again roam the Siberian steppes.”

Imagine what’s next?!

Popularity: 27% [?]