Posted: November 23, 2014 at 4:45 am
Buddy the beagle can walk again
Buddy the beagle wasn #39;t able to walk when he first arrived at the University of Minnesota Veterinary Medical Center. With the help of U of M veterinarians and staff, using stem-cell therapy,...
By: UMN Veterinary Medical Center
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Buddy the beagle can walk again - Video
Posted: November 23, 2014 at 4:45 am
Roughly 40 million people across the world are blind and, for a long time, most forms of blindness were permanent conditions. The same situation held for degenerative diseases that affect eyesight.
But recently, scientists have made some surprising headway into changing that. New treatments like gene therapy, stem-cell therapy, and even bionic implants are already starting to restore some patients' sight. And these technologies are expected to keep improving in the future.
Here's a look at all the ways scientists have tried and, increasingly, succeeded in curing the blind:
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Daniel Burke/AP Photo This undated image released by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia shows doctors Albert Maguire, left, along with wife Jean Bennett at the University of Pennsylvania. The two are part of two teams of scientists in the United States and Britain that are using gene therapy to dramatically improve vision in four patients with an inherited eye disease that causes blindness in children.
Tweaking genes is one promising route to treat blindness.
In 2011, a group led by Jean Bennett of the University of Pennsylvania used gene therapy to treat some patients with a congenital blindness disorder. The patients in question all hada hereditary disease called Leber congenital amaurosis, and they all had mutations in their RPE65 gene.The patients were each given a non-harmful virus that could sneak a healthy copy of the gene into their eye cells. Six out of 12 showed improvement.
Then, in 2014, researchers led by Robert MacLaren, an ophthalmologist at Oxford,presented some promising early results of a very smallstudy of six patients at various stages of a rare, inherited disease calledchoroideremia. These patients all lacked a protein calledREP1, which leads to progressive vision loss. Doctors took the gene forREP1, put it in a non-harmful virus, and injected that virus into the patients' eyes. All reported some improvement in their sight.
"One patient, who before his treatment could not read any lines on an eye chart with his most affected eye, was able to read three lines with that eye following his treatment,"wrote Susan Young Rojahn at MIT Technology Review.
Commercial treatments are still a ways off, however. Researchers first have to continue to monitor these patients to see what happens to their vision over the long term (and check for side effects).The FDA currently recommends 15 years of safety monitoring before trying to get a specific gene therapy approved.
2) Stem cells
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4 strategies doctors are using to cure the blind
Posted: November 22, 2014 at 9:41 pm
Human Ken doll: Rodrigo Alves, who spent 125,000 on surgery, now has stem cell hair treatment
Real life Ken doll Rodrigo Alves spent 125000 on surgery to turn himself into a human Ken doll has become the first person in the UK to have stem cell hair treatment Rodrigo Alves, 30, has...
By: AmazingWorldNews
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Human Ken doll: Rodrigo Alves, who spent 125,000 on surgery, now has stem cell hair treatment - Video
Posted: November 22, 2014 at 9:41 pm
The major material of Stem-Kine is large dose of vitamin D. if U eat it long-term may cause disease
The main raw material of Stem-Kine is a large dose of vitamin D3 and carotene. On its ability to grow human stem cells say, is the lack of scientific basis. Some people eat overmuch vitamin...
By: MLM dsa.org
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The major material of Stem-Kine is large dose of vitamin D. if U eat it long-term may cause disease - Video
Posted: November 22, 2014 at 9:41 pm
Ashley, Athetoid Cerebral Palsy | Stem Cell Treatment Testimonial
Even at 5 years old, Ashley only had the physical capabilities of a 6 month old. Until he was able to receive his first stem cell treatments, Ashley had no way to communicate or control his...
By: Beike Biotech
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Ashley, Athetoid Cerebral Palsy | Stem Cell Treatment Testimonial - Video
Posted: November 22, 2014 at 3:46 pm
Stem Cell Therapy: Dr. Roberta Shapiro - A NY Physician #39;s Path to Panama
Special Guest Speaker, Roberta F. Shapiro DO, FAAPM R speaks about: A New York Doctor #39;s Path to Panama at the Stem Cell Institute #39;s Stem Cell Therapy Publi...
By: http://www.cellmedicine.com
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Stem Cell Therapy: Dr. Roberta Shapiro - A NY Physician's Path to Panama - Video
Posted: November 22, 2014 at 3:03 am
On Sunday, 60 Minutes aired a horrifying expos of a stem-cell scam. Reporter Scott Pelley made it clear that his team was not just using deception and hidden cameras to incriminate one particular con man (Dan Ecklund, pictured). This was intended as an example, one of "hundreds of credible-looking websites offering stem-cell cures at overseas clinics." Pelley stressed that "there is no stem cell miracle today" and interviewed Duke professor Dr Joanne Kurtzberg, who contradicted numerous claims of cures while holding out hope for efficacy in perhaps ten years.
Ecklund lost his license to practice medicine in Alabama for a variety of offenses, including providing recreational drugs to and having sex with underage patients. He's now based in Ecuador but was lured to Florida, where hidden cameras filmed him.
In a follow-up on Monday, Pelley called the scams "monstrous" and explained that 60 Minutes has been on this story for two years. Back in April 2010, they exposed a similar scam, using similar methods. That program finally led to arrests on December 27, 2011; the indictment alleges that the defendants made more than $1.5 million from patients.
Almost as shocking as the revelations in the program are the comments posted at the CBS website. Some are supportive, but many accuse the program of being sensationalist, and in the pocket of Big Pharma. Several claim to report successful stem cell treatments, and some even accuse Dr. Kurtzberg of misrepresenting the science in order to make profits herself.
The hype about stem-cell cures that was widely promoted for years (remember the 2004 presidential election when John Edwards declared that they would make "people like Christopher Reeve" walk again?) seems to have metastasized into a scandal no responsible scientist would ever have intended or expected. But clearly, in addition to continuing research, a lot of educational work remains to be done. Kudos to the team at 60 Minutes for their efforts.
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Posted inBiotech & Pharma, Media Coverage, Pete Shanks's Blog Posts, Stem Cell Research
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CGS : 60 Minutes Exposes Stem Cell Scams Again
Posted: November 22, 2014 at 2:49 am
Spotlight on Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Stem Cell Research
Visit: http://www.uctv.tv/) Rachel Bonner, a sixteen-year-old high school student and founder of the Hope for Crohn #39;s charity, speaks about what it #39;s like l...
By: University of California Television (UCTV)
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Spotlight on Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Stem Cell Research - Video
Posted: November 22, 2014 at 2:49 am
Stem cell research TV ad
By: Yabsira Biredia
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Stem cell research TV ad - Video
Posted: November 22, 2014 at 2:49 am
By Estel Grace Masangkay
A team of researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis reported that they have discovered a way to directly convert human skin cells into a type of brain cell that has been damaged by Huntingtons disease.
The team chose to produce a certain type of brain cell known as medium spiny neurons, which play a key part in controlling movement. Medium spiny neurons are the cells most affected by Huntingtons disease, a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by involuntary muscle movements and cognitive decline. The disease symptoms typically begin showing in mid-adulthood, and they steadily worsen over time.
For their experiment, the scientists used adult human skin cells instead of the typical mouse cells or embryonic human cells. The team placed the skin cells in an environment similar to the environment of brain cells and then exposed them to two small molecules of RNA named miR-9 and miR-124. In their past research, the scientists have discovered that these microRNAs turn skin cells into a mix of various neuron types. Dr. Yoo and his colleagues fine-tuned the chemical signals by further exposing the cells to transcription factors they knew are found in the part of the brain where medium spiny neurons thrive. Results show that the converted cells survived for at least six months after they were injected into mices brains. The cells also behaved in a similar fashion to native brain cells.
Not only did these transplanted cells survive in the mouse brain, they showed functional properties similar to those of native cells. These cells are known to extend projections into certain brain regions. And we found the human transplanted cells also connected to these distant targets in the mouse brain. That's a landmark point about this paper, said Dr. Andrew S. Yoo, assistant professor of developmental biology in Washington University School of Medicine and senior author of the study.
The new process differs from other techniques in that it does not need to undergo a stem cell phase, thereby avoiding production of multiple cell types. The scientists added that using adult human cells offers the opportunity to use the patients own cells in future procedures, which would radically minimize the risk of rejection by the patients immune system. Dr. Yoos team is now preparing to test skin cells taken from patients with Huntingtons disease using the approach. They also intend to inject healthy reprogrammed human cells into mice models of Huntingtons disease to check whether these have any effect on the diseases symptoms.
The researchers work was published in the previous months issue of the journal Neuron.
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Researchers Convert Skin Cells To Replace HD-Damaged Brain Cells
