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WOW! Holly and I have just returned from the most exciting and wonderful experience! We were able to meet with a doctor and a researcher at Bradley University and the things that we learned are so important that I cannot wait to share them with you. Today, we were given the grand tour of the laboratory of Dr. Craig Cady. He is a professor at the university and also a laboratory researcher working with stem cells and also with neurons. His research, as he explained it (and I hope that I am getting this right!), is different from other persons doing stem cell research. His primary research at the moment is about estrogen's use as a neuro-protector of at-risk neurons in the brains of patients who have or who are likely to develop neuro-degenerative diseases like PD or Alzheimer's. He said that previous studies were flawed because the estrogen was delivered to the study participants in an even dosage rather than as women produces it-intermittently and different amounts each day. Dr. Cady [and his collaborators] believe that with persistence and good science, [they] can publish [their] findings soon and prove that estrogen is neuro-protective. Then he showed us the way that bone marrow stem cells are delivered to his lab in liquid nitrogen from Tulane University in LA. and how they, along with his collection of stem cells from Illinois' cord blood collection law are kept frozen in a freezer of liquid nitrogen until they are ready to use. From there he cultivates and grows the stem cells into [cells that could function] as: bone, muscle, and incredibly into neurons that he hopes will one day be implanted into a rat with a spinal cord injury and to heal the animal. Dr. Cady has the ability to "listen" to the neurons and to "hear" what signals they are sending out to other neurons. This way he knows that he has managed to grow real neurons. I asked him if all these advancements with cord blood and adult stem cells would negate the need for embryonic stem cell research. His reply was that embryonic stem cell research is absolutely necessary for scientists to explore but he reiterated that strict guidelines must be in place first. Then Dr. Cady "thawed out" a package of stem cells and put them under a microscope and allowed Holly and I to look at them. It was a moment unlike any I have ever known. I had chills. I felt like I was able to see into the very existence of humanity and the past, present and the future. And I felt God's presence in the world. It was something that I will always treasure and remember. What an experience!!! I have a computer picture of the estrogen research. This is a 3-day old culture of hippocampul neurons that were cultured in Dr. Cady's lab. If anyone would like to see this picture, please email me. -- Joan E. Blessington Snyder 51/13 http://www.pwnkle.com/jes/jes_web/index.htm <[log in to unmask]> "Hang tough...........no way through it but to do it." Chris-in-the-Morning (Northern Exposure) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn