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Of course, Nick, nobody is even talking about fetal cells. HELP HELP FETAL CELLS ARE OLD OLD NEWS NOBODY SAID BATTEN'S DISEASE WAS GOING TO BE TREATED WITH FETAL STEM CELLS a blastocyst is not a fetus, a kind of a pre-embryo we are talking about EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH NOT FETAL CELL RESEARCH RAY ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nick & Oanh" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 2:34 AM Subject: Re: 60 Minutes page 3/Batten disease > 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 > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn