Category Archives: Kentucky Stem Cells

Rob Waddell knew at an early age that he would need a kidney transplant. His mother has had two transplants and polycystic kidney disease runs in his family. "Ive had two uncles thatve died from this disease. At early ages. I mean they went on dialysis, they had a transplant, something happened, theyre no longer here. Their kids are, without, without a dad!", Rob said.

So when his doctor told him he had to go on dialysis and that a transplant was imminent it was no surprise. Having watched his mother suffer the ups and downs of taking anti-rejection drugs her whole life, he was thrilled to find out there was another option. He entered a clinical trial whereby he would receive an adult stem cell transplant from his kidney donor at the time of the kidney transplant surgery. The donors adult stem cells would allow Rob to accept the same donors kidney, essentially re-training his immune system so that it would recognize the donor kidney as part of Robs own body.

Rob says, "Well, I decided to do the stem cell transplant because I didnt want to live the rest of my life on immune rejection drugs. The good and the bad of immune suppressant drugs is they let the kidney stay in your body. The bad part is that slowly over time it kills the kidney. Its toxic to the kidney. So those drugs, over time, will cause the kidney to fail. My wife, Karen, she, when I proposed the idea of me doing this stem cell study, she was really kind of concerned. I mean she didnt want me to do it because it was new."

Karen Waddell remembers what she said when she heard about the adult stem cell transplant, "I told him I was totally against it from the beginning. Didnt like it. I said, you can just have a normal transplant. Your mom has lived through it. You know, well just adjust."

Rob says, "Seeing my mother go through the repercussions of having kidney disease and the transplant and immune rejection drugs, probably was the number one foundation for me pursuing this."

After the stem cell infusion, Karen says, Rob was like a new man. "Its like hes rejuvenated. Its amazing. He's alert. All his faculties are working great. And for him to be just drug-free, oh its wonderful!

"We call him my fifth child and other people that know us too, theyll tease, because you will see him rip-sticking around the neighborhood, or on the trampoline. So Im thankful that he was able to just be determined and have that drive and the foresight to know that he was going to get those stem cells.

Today Rob lives a full and active life chasing four kids around the soccer, baseball and lacrosse fields of Louisville, Kentucky.

"I feel so fortunate, because Ive been blessed with this. I mean truly a new lease on life. I feel fantastic. My kids could tell you that. I mean I wear them out half the time and I didnt before.

Actually, almost every day since then, I just walk around and Im like, Wow! I feel so goodI mean is this really happening? These adult stem cells to me were a chance to live a normal life.and its amazing."

Read more:
Adult Stem Cell Success Story | Kidney Disease | SCRF

Stem cell therapy has actually become a popular dispute in the international medical scene. This extremely questionable treatment has gotten blended opinions from various stakeholders in the healthcare market and has actually likewise attracted the attention of politicians, religious leaders and the general population at large. Stem cell therapy is considered a revolutionary treatment for individuals dealing with a wide range of degenerative conditions. Some typical questions concerning this therapy are responded to below.

Are you a stem cell therapy specialist in Ashland KY 41101? Contact us for more information about joining our website.

Stem cells can be referred to as blank state or non-specialized cells that have the ability to become specialized cells in the body such as bone, muscle, nerve or organ cells. This indicates that these special cells can be utilized to restore or establish a large range of damaged cells and tissues in the body. Stem cell treatment is for that reason a treatment that focuses on accomplishing tissue regeneration and can be utilized to cure health conditions and health problems such as osteoarthritis, degenerative disc disease, spinal cord injury, muscular degeneration, motor nerve cell disease, ALS, Parkinsons, cardiovascular disease and a lot more.

Being a treatment that is still under studio, stem cell therapy has actually not been totally accepted as a feasible treatment alternative for the above mentioned health conditions and diseases. A great deal of studio is currently being performed by researchers and medical professionals in different parts of the world to make this treatment sensible and efficient. There are nevertheless various limitations enforced by federal governments on studio involving embryonic stem cells.

Presently, there have not been many case studies performed for this form of treatment. Nevertheless, with the few case studies that have been performed, one of the significant concerns that has been raised is the increase in a clients danger of developing cancer. Cancer is triggered by the rapid reproduction of cells that tend not to pass away so easily. Stem cells have been associated with similar growth factors that may cause formation of growths and other malignant cells in patients.

Contact us for more information about stem cell therapy in Ashland KY 41101

Stem cells can be extracted from a young embryo after conception. These stem cells are commonly referred to as embryonic stem cells. After the stem cells are extracted from the embryo, the embryo is terminated. This is generally one of the significant causes of controversy in the field of stem cell studio. Lots of people argue that termination of an embryo is dishonest and undesirable.

Stem cells can still be gotten through other ways as they can be discovered in the blood, bone marrow and umbilical cords of adult people. Typical body cells can also be reverse-engineered to become stem cells that have limited capabilities.

New research has actually however revealed pledge as researchers target at establishing stem cells that do not form into growths in later treatment stages. These stem cells can therefore successfully transform into other types of specialized cells. This therapy is for that reason worth researching into as many clients can take advantage of this advanced treatment.

Need a stem cell doctor near Ashland KY 41101

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Main address:Ashland, Kentucky, 41101

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Stem Cell Ashland Kentucky 41101

Is it a Good Choice for Me?

Regenerative stem cell treatment is an innovative approach to establish or restore normal function by the use of cells that are directly derived from amniotic fluid. The fluid is injected in to the affected area for treatment.

The Painless Process and Procedure

Is regenerative stem cell treatment painful? That question is generally one of the first things a person asks when considering the procedure. The answer is no. Aside from the usual prick of an injection, it is pain free. Best of all, it is a practical, safe and affordable solution to pain you may already have.

How it Works

Stem cell therapy uses natures amazing powers to heal the body. Once injected, they go right to work on the afflicted areas. There are three main ways in which they do so.

First, the stem cells produce a substance called hyaluronic acid which lubricates the joints. Hyaluronic acid is a naturally occurring substance found within the body. As we age, however, our supply tends to diminish. If too much is lost, movement within the joints can become quite painful. By adding the natural substance back into your system, many find the pain is completely gone and that their joints can function like they used to again.

Secondly, stem cells release cytokines. Cytokines are cell-signaling molecules which aid in cell-to-cell communication in such areas as immune responses. They also promote the movement of other cells towards an inflamed site so the site can heal, naturally. The cytokines that are released in stem cell therapy help reduce inflammation in the affected area which also decreases or eliminates the pain.

Thirdly, injecting stem cells promotes cellular growth so new joint tissue can be built. By doing so, the root of the pain and debility can be addressed. Re-growing healthy cells offers the optimal natural solution.

Read more here:
Stem Cell Therapy Kentucky Neurology and Rehab

What happens to my pet when they come in for stem cell therapy?

First, your vet will put your pet under general anesthetic. Then, he/she will make a small incision and collect 2-4 tablespoons of fat (either in the belly or behind the shoulder blades). MediVet provides on-site training for each clinic that brings on Stem Cell treatments; the process ensures your pets cells will be isolated and activated in a proper manner.

The surgical time requiring anesthesia is typically less than 30 minutes. The cells are isolated, activated and re-administered on site so that your animal can go home same day.

What is the recovery period, and how long does it take to see results?

We recommend that the patient be limited to activity within the first 10 days. It is likely your pet will be feeling good and want to exert themselves, however we recommend limiting physical activity so the cells have the ability to work to repair injuries. Improvements are typically seen within the first two weeks and continue improve over the next few months. Veterinarians report responses from initial treatments lasting 18-24 months. Rehabilitation Schedule.

MediVets patented stem cell procedure allows your vet to isolate stem cells from your animals own fat tissue, activate them, and reintroduce them directly into the damaged areas all in one visit. The goal of this revolutionary procedure is to provide a potent anti-inflammatory effect promoting cartilage and other tissue regeneration ultimately creating a healthier environment for the affected area. Most importantly, its an all-natural approach to healing without the adverse side effects. One example, in the case of arthritis, stem cells can become new cartilage cells, thus reducing pain and increasing mobility.

How long does a treatment last? What happens if my pet starts having trouble again?

We typically see about 18-24 months of relief after the initial treatment and even longer when treatment is sought at earlier stages. Most pet owners chose to bank cells, so re-treatment is easy and cost effective. MediVet has banking facilities in Kentucky, Australia and Europe. If symptoms return, your vet merely requests a dose of cells from the bank, and injects them. No surgery is necessary.

How long has this been available?

Stem cell therapy for animals has been commercially available since 2004. MediVet pioneered in-clinic treatment options around 2010 and has now successfully treated thousands of animals globally.

What is so great about Stem Cell Therapy?

Stem cells treat the source of the problem by becoming new tissue replacing damaged tissue. Other treatments, such as NSAIDs, merely attempt to reduce symptoms. The treatment is very low risk, because it uses the animals own stem cells. With MediVets technology in a recent study conducted by four independent Veterinarians over 95% of animals treated show improvement. For pet owners, there are two main advantages to MediVet.

155 Canine Study

What conditions do you treat?

Our typical patient has osteoarthritis (hip dysplasia, degenerative joint disease, calcifications, common degeneration and inflammation), soft tissue injuries (cruciate injuries, tears, ruptures, inflammation), or needs accelerated healing of fractures. We know a lot about these conditions, and over 95% of these patients get better, with MediVets Stem Cell Therapy.We also treat other cases under compassionate use. We know less about these conditions, but are seeing some exciting results. Some of those conditions are: degenerative myelopathy, feline gingivitis, end-stage renal disease, liver and kidney failure, allergy, auto-immune, inflammatory bowel disease, pulmonary fibrosis, IMHA, atopy, and spine trauma. Please talk to your vet if you have questions about any of these conditions or would like to submit your animal for a compassionate use trial.

Is it safe?

Yes, this procedure is very safe. The biggest risk as in any surgical procedure is using anesthetic, to remove the fat tissue. On a typical dog, Veterinarians report this procedure is easier than a spay. The fat is collected in about 20 minutes by your vet. Processing the sample is done carefully by a highly trained Vet tech carefully trained by MediVet. In the thousands of animals treated, we have not observed any significant negative side-effects from MediVets stem cell therapy.

KSU Study Double blind placebo controlled study of Osteoarthritis model

UK Study The only validated independent comparative analysis done of MediVets Stem Cell Therapy Procedure (Stromal Vascular Fraction (SVF)

KSU Study Double blind controlled study of Atopic Dermatitis using MediVets Stem Cell Therapy Procedure (Stromal Vascular Fraction therapy (21 dogs)

See more here:
Why Stem Cell Therapy for Pets? | MediVet Biologics

Newswise Rodeo Therapeutics, a new drug development company created by two highly regarded Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researchers, has raised $5.9 million to develop small-molecule drugs that promote the bodys repair of diseased or damaged tissues.

The company is based on discoveries by its three scientific founders, Sanford Markowitz, MD, PhD, Markowitz-Ingalls Professor of Cancer Genetics and Distinguished University Professor at CWRU; Stanton L. Gerson, MD, Asa and Patricia Shiverick- Jane Shiverick (Tripp) Professor of Hematological Oncology and director of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center; and Joseph Ready, PhD, professor of biochemistry at University of Texas Southwestern. The Rodeo moniker is intended to invoke the western in Case Western Reserve and University of Texas Southwestern, home universities of the firms three co-founders.

The company will build on its founders research expertise to develop drugs to help the body heal itself by inhibiting a prostaglandin-degrading enzyme called 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (15-PGDH). Prostaglandins are hormone-like substances crucial for many important activities within the body.

In a 2015 publication in Science, Markowitz, Gerson, and Ready showed that prostaglandins stimulate the ability of tissue stem cells to repair tissue injury, and that this activity could be potently activated by small molecules they developed to inhibit 15-PGDH. In mice models, the 15-PGDH inhibitors stimulated healing of colitis, stimulated recovery of the liver following liver surgery, and markedly accelerated the recovery of bone marrow after a bone marrow transplant.

The body has enormous potential to heal itself through actions such as tissue regeneration, Markowitz said. Our goal was to develop a drug that could recruit these tissue regeneration capacities to assist in treatment of human diseases where tissue damage is often the principal cause of death or significant illness.

Accelerator Corporation, a Seattle-based life science investment and management firm, led the effort in obtaining a $5.9 million Series A financing for Rodeo Therapeutics. Investors include AbbVie, Alexandria Venture Investments, Arch Venture Partners, Eli Lilly & Company, Johnson & Johnson Innovation JJDC, Inc., Watson Fund, L.P., WRF Capital, and WuXi AppTec. Accelerator will help manage the new firm along with Rodeos three scientific founders.

Rodeo Therapeutics founding scientists have achieved a level of biology and medicinal chemistry for their lead product candidate that is advanced beyond what we would typically see in an academic setting, said David M. Schubert, chief operating officer of Accelerator. We believe that this Series A investment will provide the financial resources to rapidly advance the companys development program toward human trials, opening the door to an exciting new therapeutic approach that has significant clinical and commercial potential.

Inflammatory diseases often result in serious tissue damage and impairment, Gerson said. We have developed a drug that has stimulated tissue regeneration, repairing damage to the colon, liver, and bone marrow in animal models, paving the way to apply our findings to human diseases.

Rodeo will focus on increasing tissue levels of prostaglandin E2, or PGE2. Research has shown that PGE2 supports production of many types of tissue stem cells, which are crucial for healing to occur. Markowitz and University of Kentucky Professor Hsin-Hsiung Tai earlier showed that 15-PGDH degrades and reduces the amount of PGE2 in the body and that inhibiting 15-PGDH leads to more PGE2 being produced, resulting in tissue regeneration and healing.

Markowitzs laboratory developed a test for identifying drugs that could bind to 15-PGDH. Ready and his UT Southwestern colleague, James Willson, MD, (former director of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center), used the test to examine a repository of over 230,000 chemicals, finding one SW033291that incapacitated 15-PGDH when added at one part in 10 billion in a test-tube-based mixture, raising the possibility that it could be administered as a drug.

Markowitz, Gerson and their colleagues then studied mice that had received lethal doses of radiation, followed by a partial bone marrow transplant. Without SW033291, all the animals died. With it, they all recovered. Additional studies showed that mice given the drug regained normal blood counts six days faster than mice that were transplanted without receiving the drug.

In addition, the researchers found that SW033291 accelerated tissue recovery in other diseases, for example, healing virtually all ulcers associated with ulcerative colitis. In mice that had two-thirds of their livers surgically removed, SW033291 accelerated re-growth of new liver nearly twice as fast as typically happens without the medication. Crucially, there were no adverse side effects, even at doses much higher than needed for inhibiting 15-PGDH.

The new funding for Rodeo will enable the founders to conduct studies aimed at showing the safety of SW033291-related compounds in larger animals, part of the pathway needed to secure approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for trials in humans. The first focus is on developing 15-PGDH inhibitors for inflammatory bowel disease and promoting the reconstitution of blood cells following bone marrow transplant.

This team and this program provide a blueprint for what can be accomplished with translational research in Cleveland, said Michael Haag, Case Western Reserves executive director of technology management at CWRUs Technology Transfer Office. We are indebted to several advisors who provided world-class guidance and mentorship.

Translational Research Support for the founders research on developing 15-PGDH inhibitor drugs came from Case Western Reserves Council to Advance Human Health, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Centers Harrington Discovery Institute. Also contributing to the technology development to date was a grant from the NIH Center for Accelerated Innovation Cleveland Clinic (NCAI-CC), a multi-institutional NIH-funded technology development program focused on translating promising research to commercial development and eventual use in the diagnosis and treatment of patients.

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About Case Western Reserve UniversityCase Western Reserve University is one of the country's leading private research institutions. Located in Cleveland, we offer a unique combination of forward-thinking educational opportunities in an inspiring cultural setting. Our leading-edge faculty engage in teaching and research in a collaborative, hands-on environment. Our nationally recognized programs include arts and sciences, dental medicine, engineering, law, management, medicine, nursing and social work. About 5,100 undergraduate and 6,200 graduate students comprise our student body. Visitcase.eduto see how Case Western Reserve thinks beyond the possible.

For more information about Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, please visit: case.edu/medicine.

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Case Western Reserve University Researchers Develop Therapeutic to Enhance Tissue Repair and Regeneration - Newswise (press release)

BINGHAMTON (WBNG) -- Thursday, a cancer survivor met her bone marrow donor for the first time, just days before her wedding.

"They told me that without a transplant I really only had about six months to a year," said Vivian Nolan, a bone marrow transplant recipient.

In 2008, Vivian Nolan was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called multiple myeloma. Later on, she was diagnosed with leukemia.

Doctors tried a bone marrow transplant with her own stem cells. When that didn't work, they said she needed a donor.

"The only cure or chance of holding it off at all is a bone marrow transplant," Nolan said.

Lucky for Nolan, doctors found a match.

A stranger volunteered to save her life. Scott Durbin is Nolan's donor. He lives in Kentucky, over 850 miles away.

Thursday, Durbin and Nolan met for the first time.

Nolan is getting married on Saturday.Durbin and his family flew in to support her in her next phase of life, a life that she wouldn't have without him.

"This is the man who gave me my life back. So I'm really happy," Nolan said.

For Durbin, the decision to help someone in need was second nature.

"I signed up. 7 months later I got that phone call saying they was gonna fly me to Atlanta," bone marrow donor Scott Durbinsaid.

Nolan was still in shock that someone would do something so kind for a person he had never met.

"I just couldn't believe that there was someone out there that I never knew that would go through that for me," she said.

After the transplant, Nolan wanted to meet the man who now is a part of her.

Today, she was able to introduce her family to its newest member.

"Now I've got this whole new life and he's got this whole big new family."

For Durbin, it's a choice he'd make over and over.

"I would do it again to give you a second chance," Durbin said.

Nolan remains forever grateful for that second chance.

Since her bone marrow transplant, Nolan's leukemia is virtually gone. She says she feels great, and can't wait for her new lease on life.

Read the original here:
Cancer survivor meets bone marrow donor days before wedding - WBNG-TV

GLASGOW Protesters stood at one entrance of a shopping center in western Kentucky on Thursday, holding signs and shouting health care not wealth care as they waited for U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to arrive.

He made two stops in Glasgow after attending the dedication of a new interchange on Interstate 65 in Warren County at the Kentucky Transpark.

McConnell's first stop in Glasgow was at the T.J. Health Pavilion where he spoke to members of the Glasgow Rotary Club and their guests, as well as members of the media, touching on a variety of topics including Neil Gorsuch's appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, tax reform, Democrats and Republicans' efforts to work together to resolve issues and the media's perception that only bad news is newsworthy.

Af first, he had very little to say about the proposed changes to the federal health care bill, other than to say that it was an issue where Republicans in the Senate are not anticipating receiving very much Democratic support.

Later, when the floor was opened for questions, Glasgow businessman Joe Goodman asked if the senator was worried about the re-election of Republican members of Congress if some form of health care legislation is not passed.

I think we have an obligation to the American people to try to improve what we currently have. What we do know is the status quo is not sustainable, McConnell said.

He continued that what Congress is discussing most in relation to the health care bill is the private health insurance market.

This is not people on Medicare; not people on Medicaid; not people who are getting their health insurance at work. This is the private health insurance market, McConnell said. It's never worked very well. It has worked worse after Obamacare, and so what I say to my colleagues is we are in the middle of this internal discussion about what to do about it, because our Democratic friends are not interested in participating, so this is a Republican-only exercise.

He continued that no action is not an alternative.

You've got the insurance markets imploding all over the country, including in this state. This is a very current topic, as you may have read. I'm in the position of the guy with the Rubik's Cube, trying to twist the dial in such a way to get at least 50 members of my Congress to agree to a version of repealing and replacing as much of it as we can agree to do, he said. That is a very timely subject that I'm grappling with as we speak and we all will be back in session next Monday and back at it again.

McConnell pointed out that many states only have one insurance provider, leaving residents with just one choice for health care coverage.

If you have just one choice, you really have no choice, he said.

Glasgow attorney Charley Goodman asked if there was a reasonable prospect of having to reach across the aisle in order to get a replacement bill passed.

If my side is unable to agree on an adequate replacement, then some kind of action with regard to the private health insurance market must occur, McConnell said, adding the health care bill has not been a very bipartisan issue.

If Republicans are not able to agree among themselves, he said the crisis will still be there.

We will have to see what the way forward is at that point, he said.

Other questions from the audience pertained to welfare and term limits for Congress, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court.

After the question and answer session, Goodman said he enjoyed McConnell's talk Thursday probably more than any other he has given to the Glasgow Rotary Club.

I don't think he answered my question exactly, but I appreciate the answer that he did give and we will see, he said. I really enjoyed his talk and I think all of us here in Glasgow can appreciate that he comes here. He comes here a lot and for that we are very grateful.

McConnell did speak briefly about the 21st Century Cures Act, which he said was one of three major bipartisan accomplishments of the last Congress and touched on regenerative medicine or stem cell replacement.

Dana Emmitt-Hall of Glasgow spoke to the senator about stem cell replacement.

I took my son, Cameron, to Lima, Peru, and had donated umbilical chord stem cell treatment done with him when he was younger, she said.

Her son is autistic and with the stem cell treatment, he showed what she described as being remarkable results.

We were able to get him potty trained within the first six months. He was able to pick up language and skills. He's learned to read, she said. He's made a lot of progress, but I attribute a lot of it to those stem cells.

Emmitt-Hall said she had no idea there was work being done at the federal level behind the scenes on regenerative medicine, adding that she finds that to be very encouraging.

When you have a dire situation and there's not really much hope, that's like a medical miracle, especially with individuals with spinal chord issues, she said. It's regenerative medicine. It is generating your body to heal itself.

Following his talk at the Glasgow Rotary Club meeting, McConnell went to the Barren County Cooperative Extension Office on West Main Street for another meeting. The Glasgow Daily Times was denied access to the meeting.

Kinslow writes for the Glasgow Daily Times.

Read more:
McConnell: Action needed on health insurance - Richmond Register

Santa Monica's NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, who is making final preparations for his launch to the International Space Station later this month, will be participating in live satellite interviews from 9 to 10 a.m. EDT Friday, July 14, at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia.

The interviews will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website and will be preceded at 8:30 a.m. by a video feed of highlights from Bresnik's mission training and previous spaceflight.

Bresnik will arrive at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Sunday, July 16, for final pre-launch training. He and his crewmates, cosmonaut Sergey Ryazanskiy of the Russian space agency Roscosmos and Paolo Nespoli of ESA (European Space Agency), will launch on the Russian Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft at 11:41 a.m. on July 28. They are scheduled to return to Earth in December.

Their flight plan calls for an arrival at the station about six hours after launch, where they will join Expedition 52 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos, and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer of NASA. The crew members will continue several hundred experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science currently underway and scheduled to take place aboard humanity's only permanently occupied orbiting lab.

Among the experiments is Cardiac Stem Cells, which investigates how microgravity affects stem cells and the factors that govern stem cell activity, including physical and molecular changes. The Cosmic-Ray Energetics and Mass experiment is also scheduled to arrive at the station during the crew's stay and will measure the charges of cosmic rays ranging from hydrogen up through iron nuclei, over a broad energy range.

Bresnik was born in Fort Knox, Kentucky, but considers Santa Monica, California, to be his hometown.

He graduated from The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, and was commissioned in the Marine Corps in May 1989. NASA selected him as an astronaut in May 2004. This will be his second trip to the International Space Station and his first long-duration mission. Previously he flew aboard space shuttle Atlantis to the station in 2009.

For details about his experiences in space, follow Bresnik on social media at:

Tweets by AstroKomrade

https://www.facebook.com/AstroKomrade

https://www.instagram.com/astrokomrade

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Santa Monica's NASA Astronaut Randy Bresnik Live Interviews Before Space Station Mission - Santa monica Observed

In biology, cloning is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments (molecular cloning), cells (cell cloning), or organisms. The term also refers to the production of multiple copies of a product such as digital media or software.

The term clone, invented by J. B. S. Haldane, is derived from the Ancient Greek word kln, "twig", referring to the process whereby a new plant can be created from a twig. In horticulture, the spelling clon was used until the twentieth century; the final e came into use to indicate the vowel is a "long o" instead of a "short o".[1][2] Since the term entered the popular lexicon in a more general context, the spelling clone has been used exclusively.

In botany, the term lusus was traditionally used.[3]:21, 43

Cloning is a natural form of reproduction that has allowed life forms to spread for more than 50 thousand years. It is the reproduction method used by plants, fungi, and bacteria, and is also the way that clonal colonies reproduce themselves.[4][5] Examples of these organisms include blueberry plants, hazel trees, the Pando trees,[6][7] the Kentucky coffeetree, Myricas, and the American sweetgum.

Molecular cloning refers to the process of making multiple molecules. Cloning is commonly used to amplify DNA fragments containing whole genes, but it can also be used to amplify any DNA sequence such as promoters, non-coding sequences and randomly fragmented DNA. It is used in a wide array of biological experiments and practical applications ranging from genetic fingerprinting to large scale protein production. Occasionally, the term cloning is misleadingly used to refer to the identification of the chromosomal location of a gene associated with a particular phenotype of interest, such as in positional cloning. In practice, localization of the gene to a chromosome or genomic region does not necessarily enable one to isolate or amplify the relevant genomic sequence. To amplify any DNA sequence in a living organism, that sequence must be linked to an origin of replication, which is a sequence of DNA capable of directing the propagation of itself and any linked sequence. However, a number of other features are needed, and a variety of specialised cloning vectors (small piece of DNA into which a foreign DNA fragment can be inserted) exist that allow protein production, affinity tagging, single stranded RNA or DNA production and a host of other molecular biology tools.

Cloning of any DNA fragment essentially involves four steps[8]

Although these steps are invariable among cloning procedures a number of alternative routes can be selected; these are summarized as a cloning strategy.

Initially, the DNA of interest needs to be isolated to provide a DNA segment of suitable size. Subsequently, a ligation procedure is used where the amplified fragment is inserted into a vector (piece of DNA). The vector (which is frequently circular) is linearised using restriction enzymes, and incubated with the fragment of interest under appropriate conditions with an enzyme called DNA ligase. Following ligation the vector with the insert of interest is transfected into cells. A number of alternative techniques are available, such as chemical sensitivation of cells, electroporation, optical injection and biolistics. Finally, the transfected cells are cultured. As the aforementioned procedures are of particularly low efficiency, there is a need to identify the cells that have been successfully transfected with the vector construct containing the desired insertion sequence in the required orientation. Modern cloning vectors include selectable antibiotic resistance markers, which allow only cells in which the vector has been transfected, to grow. Additionally, the cloning vectors may contain colour selection markers, which provide blue/white screening (alpha-factor complementation) on X-gal medium. Nevertheless, these selection steps do not absolutely guarantee that the DNA insert is present in the cells obtained. Further investigation of the resulting colonies must be required to confirm that cloning was successful. This may be accomplished by means of PCR, restriction fragment analysis and/or DNA sequencing.

Cloning a cell means to derive a population of cells from a single cell. In the case of unicellular organisms such as bacteria and yeast, this process is remarkably simple and essentially only requires the inoculation of the appropriate medium. However, in the case of cell cultures from multi-cellular organisms, cell cloning is an arduous task as these cells will not readily grow in standard media.

A useful tissue culture technique used to clone distinct lineages of cell lines involves the use of cloning rings (cylinders).[9] In this technique a single-cell suspension of cells that have been exposed to a mutagenic agent or drug used to drive selection is plated at high dilution to create isolated colonies, each arising from a single and potentially clonal distinct cell. At an early growth stage when colonies consist of only a few cells, sterile polystyrene rings (cloning rings), which have been dipped in grease, are placed over an individual colony and a small amount of trypsin is added. Cloned cells are collected from inside the ring and transferred to a new vessel for further growth.

Somatic-cell nuclear transfer, known as SCNT, can also be used to create embryos for research or therapeutic purposes. The most likely purpose for this is to produce embryos for use in stem cell research. This process is also called "research cloning" or "therapeutic cloning." The goal is not to create cloned human beings (called "reproductive cloning"), but rather to harvest stem cells that can be used to study human development and to potentially treat disease. While a clonal human blastocyst has been created, stem cell lines are yet to be isolated from a clonal source.[10]

Therapeutic cloning is achieved by creating embryonic stem cells in the hopes of treating diseases such as diabetes and Alzheimer's. The process begins by removing the nucleus (containing the DNA) from an egg cell and inserting a nucleus from the adult cell to be cloned.[11] In the case of someone with Alzheimer's disease, the nucleus from a skin cell of that patient is placed into an empty egg. The reprogrammed cell begins to develop into an embryo because the egg reacts with the transferred nucleus. The embryo will become genetically identical to the patient.[11] The embryo will then form a blastocyst which has the potential to form/become any cell in the body.[12]

The reason why SCNT is used for cloning is because somatic cells can be easily acquired and cultured in the lab. This process can either add or delete specific genomes of farm animals. A key point to remember is that cloning is achieved when the oocyte maintains its normal functions and instead of using sperm and egg genomes to replicate, the oocyte is inserted into the donors somatic cell nucleus.[13] The oocyte will react on the somatic cell nucleus, the same way it would on sperm cells.[13]

The process of cloning a particular farm animal using SCNT is relatively the same for all animals. The first step is to collect the somatic cells from the animal that will be cloned. The somatic cells could be used immediately or stored in the laboratory for later use.[13] The hardest part of SCNT is removing maternal DNA from an oocyte at metaphase II. Once this has been done, the somatic nucleus can be inserted into an egg cytoplasm.[13] This creates a one-cell embryo. The grouped somatic cell and egg cytoplasm are then introduced to an electrical current.[13] This energy will hopefully allow the cloned embryo to begin development. The successfully developed embryos are then placed in surrogate recipients, such as a cow or sheep in the case of farm animals.[13]

SCNT is seen as a good method for producing agriculture animals for food consumption. It successfully cloned sheep, cattle, goats, and pigs. Another benefit is SCNT is seen as a solution to clone endangered species that are on the verge of going extinct.[13] However, stresses placed on both the egg cell and the introduced nucleus can be enormous, which led to a high loss in resulting cells in early research. For example, the cloned sheep Dolly was born after 277 eggs were used for SCNT, which created 29 viable embryos. Only three of these embryos survived until birth, and only one survived to adulthood.[14] As the procedure could not be automated, and had to be performed manually under a microscope, SCNT was very resource intensive. The biochemistry involved in reprogramming the differentiated somatic cell nucleus and activating the recipient egg was also far from being well-understood. However, by 2014 researchers were reporting cloning success rates of seven to eight out of ten[15] and in 2016, a Korean Company Sooam Biotech was reported to be producing 500 cloned embryos per day.[16]

In SCNT, not all of the donor cell's genetic information is transferred, as the donor cell's mitochondria that contain their own mitochondrial DNA are left behind. The resulting hybrid cells retain those mitochondrial structures which originally belonged to the egg. As a consequence, clones such as Dolly that are born from SCNT are not perfect copies of the donor of the nucleus.

Organism cloning (also called reproductive cloning) refers to the procedure of creating a new multicellular organism, genetically identical to another. In essence this form of cloning is an asexual method of reproduction, where fertilization or inter-gamete contact does not take place. Asexual reproduction is a naturally occurring phenomenon in many species, including most plants (see vegetative reproduction) and some insects. Scientists have made some major achievements with cloning, including the asexual reproduction of sheep and cows. There is a lot of ethical debate over whether or not cloning should be used. However, cloning, or asexual propagation,[17] has been common practice in the horticultural world for hundreds of years.

The term clone is used in horticulture to refer to descendants of a single plant which were produced by vegetative reproduction or apomixis. Many horticultural plant cultivars are clones, having been derived from a single individual, multiplied by some process other than sexual reproduction.[18] As an example, some European cultivars of grapes represent clones that have been propagated for over two millennia. Other examples are potato and banana.[19]Grafting can be regarded as cloning, since all the shoots and branches coming from the graft are genetically a clone of a single individual, but this particular kind of cloning has not come under ethical scrutiny and is generally treated as an entirely different kind of operation.

Many trees, shrubs, vines, ferns and other herbaceous perennials form clonal colonies naturally. Parts of an individual plant may become detached by fragmentation and grow on to become separate clonal individuals. A common example is in the vegetative reproduction of moss and liverwort gametophyte clones by means of gemmae. Some vascular plants e.g. dandelion and certain viviparous grasses also form seeds asexually, termed apomixis, resulting in clonal populations of genetically identical individuals.

Clonal derivation exists in nature in some animal species and is referred to as parthenogenesis (reproduction of an organism by itself without a mate). This is an asexual form of reproduction that is only found in females of some insects, crustaceans, nematodes,[20] fish (for example the hammerhead shark[21]), the Komodo dragon[21] and lizards. The growth and development occurs without fertilization by a male. In plants, parthenogenesis means the development of an embryo from an unfertilized egg cell, and is a component process of apomixis. In species that use the XY sex-determination system, the offspring will always be female. An example is the little fire ant (Wasmannia auropunctata), which is native to Central and South America but has spread throughout many tropical environments.

Artificial cloning of organisms may also be called reproductive cloning.

Hans Spemann, a German embryologist was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1935 for his discovery of the effect now known as embryonic induction, exercised by various parts of the embryo, that directs the development of groups of cells into particular tissues and organs. In 1928 he and his student, Hilde Mangold, were the first to perform somatic-cell nuclear transfer using amphibian embryos one of the first moves towards cloning.[22]

Reproductive cloning generally uses "somatic cell nuclear transfer" (SCNT) to create animals that are genetically identical. This process entails the transfer of a nucleus from a donor adult cell (somatic cell) to an egg from which the nucleus has been removed, or to a cell from a blastocyst from which the nucleus has been removed.[23] If the egg begins to divide normally it is transferred into the uterus of the surrogate mother. Such clones are not strictly identical since the somatic cells may contain mutations in their nuclear DNA. Additionally, the mitochondria in the cytoplasm also contains DNA and during SCNT this mitochondrial DNA is wholly from the cytoplasmic donor's egg, thus the mitochondrial genome is not the same as that of the nucleus donor cell from which it was produced. This may have important implications for cross-species nuclear transfer in which nuclear-mitochondrial incompatibilities may lead to death.

Artificial embryo splitting or embryo twinning, a technique that creates monozygotic twins from a single embryo, is not considered in the same fashion as other methods of cloning. During that procedure, an donor embryo is split in two distinct embryos, that can then be transferred via embryo transfer. It is optimally performed at the 6- to 8-cell stage, where it can be used as an expansion of IVF to increase the number of available embryos.[24] If both embryos are successful, it gives rise to monozygotic (identical) twins.

Dolly, a Finn-Dorset ewe, was the first mammal to have been successfully cloned from an adult somatic cell. Dolly was formed by taking a cell from the udder of her 6-year old biological mother.[25] Dolly's embryo was created by taking the cell and inserting it into a sheep ovum. It took 434 attempts before an embryo was successful.[26] The embryo was then placed inside a female sheep that went through a normal pregnancy.[27] She was cloned at the Roslin Institute in Scotland by British scientists Sir Ian Wilmut and Keith Campbell and lived there from her birth in 1996 until her death in 2003 when she was six. She was born on 5 July 1996 but not announced to the world until 22 February 1997.[28] Her stuffed remains were placed at Edinburgh's Royal Museum, part of the National Museums of Scotland.[29]

Dolly was publicly significant because the effort showed that genetic material from a specific adult cell, programmed to express only a distinct subset of its genes, can be reprogrammed to grow an entirely new organism. Before this demonstration, it had been shown by John Gurdon that nuclei from differentiated cells could give rise to an entire organism after transplantation into an enucleated egg.[30] However, this concept was not yet demonstrated in a mammalian system.

The first mammalian cloning (resulting in Dolly the sheep) had a success rate of 29 embryos per 277 fertilized eggs, which produced three lambs at birth, one of which lived. In a bovine experiment involving 70 cloned calves, one-third of the calves died young. The first successfully cloned horse, Prometea, took 814 attempts. Notably, although the first[clarification needed] clones were frogs, no adult cloned frog has yet been produced from a somatic adult nucleus donor cell.

There were early claims that Dolly the sheep had pathologies resembling accelerated aging. Scientists speculated that Dolly's death in 2003 was related to the shortening of telomeres, DNA-protein complexes that protect the end of linear chromosomes. However, other researchers, including Ian Wilmut who led the team that successfully cloned Dolly, argue that Dolly's early death due to respiratory infection was unrelated to deficiencies with the cloning process. This idea that the nuclei have not irreversibly aged was shown in 2013 to be true for mice.[31]

Dolly was named after performer Dolly Parton because the cells cloned to make her were from a mammary gland cell, and Parton is known for her ample cleavage.[32]

The modern cloning techniques involving nuclear transfer have been successfully performed on several species. Notable experiments include:

Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human. The term is generally used to refer to artificial human cloning, which is the reproduction of human cells and tissues. It does not refer to the natural conception and delivery of identical twins. The possibility of human cloning has raised controversies. These ethical concerns have prompted several nations to pass legislature regarding human cloning and its legality.

Two commonly discussed types of theoretical human cloning are therapeutic cloning and reproductive cloning. Therapeutic cloning would involve cloning cells from a human for use in medicine and transplants, and is an active area of research, but is not in medical practice anywhere in the world, as of 2014. Two common methods of therapeutic cloning that are being researched are somatic-cell nuclear transfer and, more recently, pluripotent stem cell induction. Reproductive cloning would involve making an entire cloned human, instead of just specific cells or tissues.[57]

There are a variety of ethical positions regarding the possibilities of cloning, especially human cloning. While many of these views are religious in origin, the questions raised by cloning are faced by secular perspectives as well. Perspectives on human cloning are theoretical, as human therapeutic and reproductive cloning are not commercially used; animals are currently cloned in laboratories and in livestock production.

Advocates support development of therapeutic cloning in order to generate tissues and whole organs to treat patients who otherwise cannot obtain transplants,[58] to avoid the need for immunosuppressive drugs,[57] and to stave off the effects of aging.[59] Advocates for reproductive cloning believe that parents who cannot otherwise procreate should have access to the technology.[60]

Opponents of cloning have concerns that technology is not yet developed enough to be safe[61] and that it could be prone to abuse (leading to the generation of humans from whom organs and tissues would be harvested),[62][63] as well as concerns about how cloned individuals could integrate with families and with society at large.[64][65]

Religious groups are divided, with some opposing the technology as usurping "God's place" and, to the extent embryos are used, destroying a human life; others support therapeutic cloning's potential life-saving benefits.[66][67]

Cloning of animals is opposed by animal-groups due to the number of cloned animals that suffer from malformations before they die,[68][69] and while food from cloned animals has been approved by the US FDA,[70][71] its use is opposed by groups concerned about food safety.[72][73][74]

Cloning, or more precisely, the reconstruction of functional DNA from extinct species has, for decades, been a dream. Possible implications of this were dramatized in the 1984 novel Carnosaur and the 1990 novel Jurassic Park.[75][76] The best current cloning techniques have an average success rate of 9.4 percent[77] (and as high as 25 percent[31]) when working with familiar species such as mice,[note 1] while cloning wild animals is usually less than 1 percent successful.[80] Several tissue banks have come into existence, including the "Frozen Zoo" at the San Diego Zoo, to store frozen tissue from the world's rarest and most endangered species.[75][81][82]

In 2001, a cow named Bessie gave birth to a cloned Asian gaur, an endangered species, but the calf died after two days. In 2003, a banteng was successfully cloned, followed by three African wildcats from a thawed frozen embryo. These successes provided hope that similar techniques (using surrogate mothers of another species) might be used to clone extinct species. Anticipating this possibility, tissue samples from the last bucardo (Pyrenean ibex) were frozen in liquid nitrogen immediately after it died in 2000. Researchers are also considering cloning endangered species such as the giant panda and cheetah.

In 2002, geneticists at the Australian Museum announced that they had replicated DNA of the thylacine (Tasmanian tiger), at the time extinct for about 65 years, using polymerase chain reaction.[83] However, on 15 February 2005 the museum announced that it was stopping the project after tests showed the specimens' DNA had been too badly degraded by the (ethanol) preservative. On 15 May 2005 it was announced that the thylacine project would be revived, with new participation from researchers in New South Wales and Victoria.

In January 2009, for the first time, an extinct animal, the Pyrenean ibex mentioned above was cloned, at the Centre of Food Technology and Research of Aragon, using the preserved frozen cell nucleus of the skin samples from 2001 and domestic goat egg-cells. The ibex died shortly after birth due to physical defects in its lungs.[84]

One of the most anticipated targets for cloning was once the woolly mammoth, but attempts to extract DNA from frozen mammoths have been unsuccessful, though a joint Russo-Japanese team is currently working toward this goal. In January 2011, it was reported by Yomiuri Shimbun that a team of scientists headed by Akira Iritani of Kyoto University had built upon research by Dr. Wakayama, saying that they will extract DNA from a mammoth carcass that had been preserved in a Russian laboratory and insert it into the egg cells of an African elephant in hopes of producing a mammoth embryo. The researchers said they hoped to produce a baby mammoth within six years.[85][86] It was noted, however that the result, if possible, would be an elephant-mammoth hybrid rather than a true mammoth.[87] Another problem is the survival of the reconstructed mammoth: ruminants rely on a symbiosis with specific microbiota in their stomachs for digestion.[87]

Scientists at the University of Newcastle and University of New South Wales announced in March 2013 that the very recently extinct gastric-brooding frog would be the subject of a cloning attempt to resurrect the species.[88]

Many such "de-extinction" projects are described in the Long Now Foundation's Revive and Restore Project.[89]

After an eight-year project involving the use of a pioneering cloning technique, Japanese researchers created 25 generations of healthy cloned mice with normal lifespans, demonstrating that clones are not intrinsically shorter-lived than naturally born animals.[31][90]

In a detailed study released in 2016 and less detailed studies by others suggest that once cloned animals get past the first month or two of life they are generally healthy. However, early pregnancy loss and neonatal losses are still greater with cloning than natural conception or assisted reproduction (IVF). Current research endeavors are attempting to overcome this problem.[32]

In an article in the 8 November 1993 article of Time, cloning was portrayed in a negative way, modifying Michelangelo's Creation of Adam to depict Adam with five identical hands. Newsweek's 10 March 1997 issue also critiqued the ethics of human cloning, and included a graphic depicting identical babies in beakers.

Cloning is a recurring theme in a wide variety of contemporary science fiction, ranging from action films such as Jurassic Park (1993), The 6th Day (2000), Resident Evil (2002), Star Wars (2002) and The Island (2005), to comedies such as Woody Allen's 1973 film Sleeper.[91]

Science fiction has used cloning, most commonly and specifically human cloning, due to the fact that it brings up controversial questions of identity.[92][93]A Number is a 2002 play by English playwright Caryl Churchill which addresses the subject of human cloning and identity, especially nature and nurture. The story, set in the near future, is structured around the conflict between a father (Salter) and his sons (Bernard 1, Bernard 2, and Michael Black) two of whom are clones of the first one. A Number was adapted by Caryl Churchill for television, in a co-production between the BBC and HBO Films.[94]

A recurring sub-theme of cloning fiction is the use of clones as a supply of organs for transplantation. The 2005 Kazuo Ishiguro novel Never Let Me Go and the 2010 film adaption[95] are set in an alternate history in which cloned humans are created for the sole purpose of providing organ donations to naturally born humans, despite the fact that they are fully sentient and self-aware. The 2005 film The Island[96] revolves around a similar plot, with the exception that the clones are unaware of the reason for their existence.

The use of human cloning for military purposes has also been explored in several works. Star Wars portrays human cloning in Clone Wars.[97]

The exploitation of human clones for dangerous and undesirable work was examined in the 2009 British science fiction film Moon.[98] In the futuristic novel Cloud Atlas and subsequent film, one of the story lines focuses on a genetically-engineered fabricant clone named Sonmi~451 who is one of millions raised in an artificial "wombtank," destined to serve from birth. She is one of thousands of clones created for manual and emotional labor; Sonmi herself works as a server in a restaurant. She later discovers that the sole source of food for clones, called 'Soap', is manufactured from the clones themselves.[99]

Cloning has been used in fiction as a way of recreating historical figures. In the 1976 Ira Levin novel The Boys from Brazil and its 1978 film adaptation, Josef Mengele uses cloning to create copies of Adolf Hitler.[100]

In 2012, a Japanese television show named "Bunshin" was created. The story's main character, Mariko, is a woman studying child welfare in Hokkaido. She grew up always doubtful about the love from her mother, who looked nothing like her and who died nine years before. One day, she finds some of her mother's belongings at a relative's house, and heads to Tokyo to seek out the truth behind her birth. She later discovered that she was a clone.[101]

In the 2013 television show Orphan Black, cloning is used as a scientific study on the behavioral adaptation of the clones.[102] In a similar vein, the book The Double by Nobel Prize winner Jos Saramago explores the emotional experience of a man who discovers that he is a clone.[103]

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Cloning - Wikipedia

Edward Kasarskis, M.D., Ph.D. is Director of the multidisciplinary ALS Center at the University of Kentucky Neuroscience Center in Lexington, Kentucky, professor in the Department of Neurology at the University of Kentucky, and Chief of Neurology at the VA Medical Center in Lexington KY.

Q: Im taking Rilutek now but am wondering what else might be on the horizon in terms of potential drugs for ALS?

A: Thats a great question. There are several high-potential drugs being tested right now through clinical trials.

By the way, the drug youre taking, Rilutek (riluzole) has been around for about 20 years now. You should know that the American Academy of Neurologys 2009 Practice Parameters say that the drug is effective in slowing the rate of progression of ALS. Some physicians may downplay the benefits and potential impact of Rilutek, but its important to know that it does play a role in treating ALS. It is not a perfect drug, and so the quest for additional drug treatment continues.

When thinking about the future of drug therapy for ALS, most experts agree that the most effective treatment will likely be a drug cocktail, combining two or more medications, rather than taking just one. This may ultimately be our best strategy in treating the disease.

There are a large number of clinical trials in progress right now testing drugs, stem cells, and gene therapy that could change the course of the disease and preserve or improve muscle strength. Heres a quick update:

The drug is a three-dimensional mirror image of a current treatment for the symptoms of Parkinsons disease (Pramipexole). The chemical difference in structure may make "Dex" less likely to have unwanted side effects that some people with Parkinsons experience with the parent drug. A small Phase 2 trial of the drug in 102 newly-diagnosed people with ALS showed improvement in functional capability and survival.

A Phase 3 trial with almost 1,000 people enrolled should be completed very soon.

If, and this is always a BIG IF, this drug proves successful and is approved, its likely that it would be taken along with Rilutek.

Dr. Bob Miller, the principal investigator of the study, described the study results as "encouraging" in a Neuraltus press release: Halting the rate of disease progression, in a subset of patients, as this study suggests, would translate into a clear clinical benefit for these patients, he said. I agree completely. Unfortunately, rather than being an oral drug, the medication is given intravenously over several days at a time, for a period of months. The next step: a more definitive Phase 3 trial is likely to be started in 2013.

If youre interested in participating in a clinical trial in your area, visit http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. There is much work to be done.

This update is regarding one of the medications I discussed above, Dexpramipexole, by Biogen Idec. It looked very promising and I mentioned that a Phase 3 trial was expected to be completed very soon. I wanted you to know that, unfortunately, the trial was not successful. There was great hope that the drug would be effective in slowing ALS based on the preliminary studies. But in the end it did not turn out to be the case. This serves to remind us all that a clinical drug trial is, at the end of the day, an experiment. Some drugs succeed and others will fail. But the research effort must continue!

If you would like to submit questions for a future Q & A, please send your questions to theexchange@alsa-national.org. Please understand that we wont be able to address all questions and we wont be able to respond to individuals personally.

Continued here:
The ALS Association