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Thalidomide was tested on rodents, on whom it worked fine... Quoting mschild <[log in to unmask]>: > Parkinson's: the breakthrough > Posted by The Independent > Thursday, 11 June 2009 at 07:32 am > Author: By Steve Connor, Science Editor > > > The research was carried out on laboratory mice but scientists believe the > findings are proof that the techniques could be applied to humans suffering > not just from Parkinson's, but a range of other incurable diseases. > Researchers have demonstrated the possibility of treating Parkinson's disease > > by transplanting laboratory-matured brain cells back into the individual who > > supplied the skin cells that were turned into cloned embryos ? a process > known > as therapeutic cloning. > "This is an exciting development, as for the first time it may be possible to > > create a person's own embryonic stem cells to potentially treat Parkinson's > disease," said Kieran Breen, director of research at the Parkinson's Disease > > Society ? a charity representing the 120,000 people in Britain affected by > the > illness. > Dr Breen said: "Stem cell therapy offers great hope for repairing the brain. > > It may ultimately offer a cure, allowing people to lead a life that is free > from the symptoms of Parkinson's disease." > Proof that therapeutic cloning is more than a pipedream will be used by > British scientists as justification for their push to expand the boundaries > of > their research to include the use of animal-human "hybrid" embryos for > medical > experiments, a process that is bitterly opposed by the Catholic Church. > Scientists say that, because of the shortage of human eggs for research > purposes, they need to use cow or rabbit eggs for cloning experiments, and > have lobbied hard for it to be allowed under the Human Fertilisation and > Embryology Bill currently going through Parliament. Even though the stem > cells > derived from cloned hybrid embryos will never be used on patients, the > practice is condemned by the Church, which wants all MPs to be given a free > vote in the Commons. > The latest development, published in the journal Nature Medicine, is further > > proof-of-principle that therapeutic cloning can effectively treat ? and > possibly cure ? a degenerative brain disorder. > For the first time scientists have been able to create healthy, working brain > > cells from immature stem cells, derived from embryos cloned from skin cells, > > and transplant them back into the diseased brain. > The laboratory mice in the study suffered from a type of Parkinson's disease, > > which is marked by the death of certain nerve cells or neurons in the brain > that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine. Skin cells were scraped from the > > tails of the animals and cloned using mouse eggs, which had their own cell > nuclei removed. Stem cells taken from the resulting cloned embryos were grown > > in the laboratory into mature dopamine-producing brain cells. After > transplanting the cells back into the brain, the mice showed significant > improvements in a range of experiments designed to test skills that become > notably worse in those with Parkinson's disease. > The team of American and Japanese scientists, led by Lorenz Studer of the > Sloan-Kettering Institute in New York, were able to produce 187 different > strains of embryonic stem cells from 24 Parkinsonian mice. A key finding of > the experiment was that there were no signs of tissue rejection because the > transplanted brain cells were derived from the same mouse that supplied the > skin cell for the cloned embryo. > Professor Robin Lovell-Badge of the Medical Research Council said the study > provided further proof-of-principle that therapeutic cloning was a potential > > treatment for severe disorders of the brain. He said: "The authors were also > > able to test several independent embryonic stem cell lines corresponding to > individual mice, and could show that most seemed to work well. This is very > encouraging as it indicates that the cloning process is a sufficiently robust > > method of reprogramming cells back to an early embryonic state, at least when > > the early embryos are used to derive embryonic stem cell lines. > "Ideally one of the next steps will be to repeat the whole procedure with a > monkey model. This will allow much better tests of functional recovery and > safety." > Life with the disease > "I wish one of these pontificators could get inside my body and see what it > feels like. Parkinson's is like being locked in your own body when your mind > > is still there. I can become as rigid as a plank and my legs won't bend. It's > > as though there is a ton of cement on my chest and an army of ants crawling > up > and down my body with spears. It's like being buried alive. > "By the age of 70, three-quarters of those in this country will have > Parkinson's disease to some degree as it is a degenerative illness. Once you > > have it, it never goes into remission. But no one tells you how difficult it > > is to live with. > "It makes me so angry when I hear academics, theologians or medics arguing > about cloning. For me, it is like hearing any hopes we may have of returning > > to normality being taken away. By mixing ethics with religion and politics, > which is a lethal concoction, they are not thinking about the people who have > > the disease. I feel like saying, 'Get off your high horse.' > "I would not want to stop any process unless it I knew it was categorically > not going to work for those who are suffering. I don't believe cloning > embryos > is like taking life. Parkinson's is such a desperately painful disease. You > would have thought that everyone would support anything reasonable to find a > > cure, and I believe what is being suggested is reasonable." > Geraldine Peacock CBE is a former chair of the Charity Commission. She has > had > Parkinson's for 18 years. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > ---------------------------------------------- This mail sent through http://www.ukonline.net ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn