Ray, Someone got their facts wrong on this one. No fetal cells involved. All the info is at http://www.stemcellsinc.com/news/051020.html Nick Drozdowski caregiver for Oanh, 15 years pd rayilynlee wrote: > Scientist Hopes For Stem Cell Success > (Page 3 of 3) > > Feb. 26, 2006 > > Scientists say the pace of research has been slowed down by President > Bush's > 2001 ban on the use of federal money to create new lines of embryonic > stem > cells. Researchers need those new stem cells to expand their work, > because > the existing lines are at least five years old and may have been weakened > over time, limiting their value. However, extracting new stem cells > destroys > human embryos, which the president strongly opposes. > > "How do you deal with people who feel that what you're doing is morally, > ethically wrong, because in a sense you're destroying life to save life?" > Bradley asked Dr. Hans Keirstead. > > "I don't feel what I'm doing is morally wrong. I think the use of human > embryonic stem cells is an ethical and responsible thing to do with > tissue > that would have been destroyed in the discards of a fertility clinic," > Keirstead replied. > > "But there are people who would say that that is life," Bradley said. > > "So, let's use it instead of discarding it. Why discard it? If you think > that that is a holy thing, then value it, treasure it and keep it. Use it > for research and the betterment of lives, don't throw it away," Keirstead > said. > > In an effort to create a safe haven for embryonic stem cell research, in > 2004 California voters passed Proposition 71, allocating $3 billion in > state > money to allow development of new stem cell lines. While that enticed > some > of the top researchers in the field to move to California, the money > has not > yet been released because of lawsuits challenging Proposition 71. > > In the meantime, Dr. Arnold Kriegstein, head of stem cell research at the > University of California at San Francisco, is raising $5 million in > private > money to build a brand new laboratory that duplicates facilities the > university already has. It's necessary because scientists are only > permitted > to work with new embryonic stem cell lines if their lab does not > receive any > federal money. > > Even if he already has things like microscopes, Petri dishes and > refrigerators, he has to buy the same equipment again for the stem cell > research. > > "Absolutely. All the materials and supplies, all the consumable > materials, > everything that's involved in any of this work needs to be paid for > through > private funds," Kriegstein explains. > > Kriegstein says that is one of the problems researchers face. "It's very > costly and it's time-consuming, and it has been slowing down progress > in the > field," he says. > > But there is one area of stem-cell research that is now ready for human > testing and it may be the only chance that Joanna and Marcus Kerner > have to > save the life of their 6-year-old son, Daniel. The FDA recently > approved a > clinical trial using brain stem cells from fetal tissue to treat the rare > and always fatal neurological disorder called Batten disease, which > Daniel > was diagnosed with a year and a half ago. The Kerners' doctor gave > them the > grim prognosis. > > "He shook his head and said, 'I'm sorry there's no cure,' " Marcus Kerner > recalls. "Suddenly, you're told your child is going to die this horrible, > horrific, long prolonged death of blindness, loss of all motor skills, > dementia and like a flower wilting." > > If Daniel is among the six children selected for this clinical trial, he > will receive an injection of neural stem cells from aborted fetuses > that are > several weeks more developed than embryos. Based on studies in mice, it's > expected the transplanted cells will produce a crucial brain enzyme, and > slow the progression of the disease. > > "Are you at all hesitant about this? I mean, one, you don't know if it'll > work. Two, you don't know if it's safe. It's never been done before," > Bradley asked Marcus Kerner. > > "He's going to die anyway, Ed. And I'd rather he go down fighting," > Kerner > replied, crying. " 'Cause he's a fighter, he's brave. And he wants to > live." > > Scientists will be closely monitoring the results of the clinical > trial for > Batten disease looking for clues that could help in the development of > stem > cell treatments for a variety of neurological disorders. They will > also be > awaiting the outcome in California of a court case trial set to begin > Monday, Feb. 27, to determine whether to free up the $3 billion for > embryonic stem-cell research that was allocated by Proposition 71. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn