Just another example of how  independent progressive thinking is advancing
the frontiers of  human knowledge.  I wonder if those adverse to the
creation of this knowledge  will deny them selves the fruits of perfection?

It could make the lines for treatment shorter.

Ned



----- Original Message -----
From: "nina p. brown" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2005 1:18 AM
Subject: Cure for Parkinson's disease in three years:


>     Cure for Parkinson's disease in three years:
>    [Health News]: London, March 14 :
>   A safe treatment for Parkinson's disease could be available in as little
> as three years, thanks
> to new research in stem cell therapy.
>
>   Scientists at Scotland's Roslin Institute have managed for the first
> time to culture stem cells -
> which can differentiate themselves into any kind of human cell - without
> using animal-derived
> products, the daily Scotsman reported.
>
>   Earlier, research had demonstrated that stem cells from pigs could help
> reverse symptoms of
> Parkinson's disease when implanted in a sufferer's brain.
>
>   However, this carries the risk of the patient developing a deadly new
> cross-species disease which
> has potentially devastating consequences - for example, vCJD, which is a
> fatal new condition
> originating in animals.
>
>   Previously, human stem cells - usually derived from embryos, angering
> the pro-life lobby - have
> been grown in a culture of animal tissue, also risking cross-species
> contamination.
>
>   But Roslin scientists, led by Paul De Sousa, have managed to culture
> stem cells from donated
> embryos - which, in this case, are the "surplus" from fertility
> treatment - in a medium derived from
> human tissue, the first time this has been done in the world.
>
>   They are now looking to create a way of mass-producing stem cells, as
> millions are required to
> repair damage to the brain.
>
>   De Sousa said he believed that, in three to five years, following
> further research in animals, it
> should be possible to start implanting human stem cells in patients
> affected by Parkinson's disease.
>
>
>   He said: "We are still away - it's one thing to produce the cells. Now
> myself and other groups
> need to be efficiently producing the types of cells in the culture dish
> that are useful for
> treatment.
>
>   "We've got to walk before we can run. We're talking another three to
> five years before we could
> be at the point where we have enough pre-clinical animal model data to
> have some confidence in the
> cells we can put into people."
>
>   Producing stem cells without using any animal-derived tissue is a
> crucial step because it
> prevents the possibility of cross-species disease.
>
>   "If stem cells are ever going to be useful for people, we have got to
> find a way to produce them
> safely and efficiently," De Sousa said.
>
>   "For the most part, the state of the field as it had stood was that
> there was a reliance on
> either animal cells or products from animal tissues.
>
>   "We have isolated four (cell lines) to date and one of these four has
> been isolated in a
> completely different media - a coating of a human protein, normally found
> on the outside of cells
> that helps cells stick together.
>
>   "There is no direct exposure to animal cells or to animal tissue-derived
> products such as serum."
>
>
>   Pro-life groups have condemned the use of embryos to provide stem cells
> and have claimed adult
> stem cells, such as those found in bone marrow, could be used instead.
>
>   De Sousa said research into the use of adult stem cells - which would
> mean the patient's own
> tissue could be used, avoiding immune system problems - should continue.
>
>   However, given the current level of knowledge, he felt embryonic stem
> cells were more effective.
>
>   Last month, another Roslin scientist, Professor Ian Wilmut, who created
> Dolly the Sheep, was
> granted a licence to clone human embryos to help further stem cell
> research. It is thought this
> could lead to cures for diabetes, quadriplegia and blindness, as well as
> Parkinson's and other
> conditions.
>
>   Robert Meadowcroft, head of policy and information at the Parkinson's
> Disease Society, said the
> work at Roslin would hasten the use of stem cell treatment - either as a
> cure or a therapy - in
> human patients.
>
>   "This looks like being a very important piece of work that will
> potentially shorten the period of
> time to clinical trials in patients and we very much welcome this
> research," Meadowcroft said.
>
>   Indo-Asian News Service
>
>
>      Nina
>       "Circumstances determine our lives, but we shape
>       our lives by what we make of our circumstances."
>     Sir John Wheeler Bennett, a British historian
>
>
>
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