Stem cells: Keep the faith
Stem cell research gets a lot of media interest.
There has been much talk about stem cell therapies revolutionising medicine. This is because they have the ability to turn into some, or all, of the 200 or more different cell types in the body.
It would be easy for a casual observer to say this area has been hyped.
The Superman actor Christopher Reeve was among many high-profile supporters of research involving human embryonic stem cells.
Last year I met spinal injury patients in California who were keen to be part of the first trial.
But despite years of planning and tens of millions of dollars of investment by the Californian biotech firm Geron, it has yet to begin. After being approved by the Food and Drug Administration, it was put on indefinite hold last year.
But a broader look at the field of stem cell research shows that it is already delivering much-anticipated breakthroughs. At least that is the view of Professor David Warburton of the Saban Research Institute at Los Angeles Children's Hospital.
He will be a speaker at the UK National Stem Cell Network annual conference, which begins today in Nottingham.
Professor Warburton, who was brought up in London, has been working in the US for 30 years. He is keen not to over-sell stem cells, but nonetheless is confident that they will change the landscape of medicine.
"In 20 years we will have stem cells banks like pharmacies. You will get a specific diagnosis and take a specific type of stem cells."
He said the acceleration in DNA sequencing means that, at some point we will all be able to carry round our genome details on a key fob. Professor Warburton said the decision last year of the Obama administration to overturn many of the Bush restrictions on stem cell funding, had had a "liberalising effect".
Professor Warburton's main area of interest is in the use of stem cells derived from amniotic fluid. These are donated by pregnant women undergoing amniocentesis.
"One of the side-effects of the Bush restrictions was to encourage scientists to look at less controversial sources of stem cells", he said. "There are no ethical objections to using amniotic fluid derived stem cells." He is hoping to begin safety trials in humans targeting kidney disease - specifically the inherited condition Alport syndrome.
Organ regeneration using stem cells has already had some spectacular success, especially with hollow organs like the windpipe and bladder.
In 2008, surgeons in Spain carried out the world's first tissue-engineered whole organ transplant. They stripped the cells from a donor organ and re-populated them with the patient's own stem cells.
Earlier this year, a 10-year-old British boy became the first child to undergo a stem cell organ transplant.
Last month, scientists in the United States said they had grown working liver grafts in the laboratory. Although this was early research involving rats, it was significant because the liver is a much more complex organ than hollow organs like the windpipe.
The potential advantage of growing new organs using a patient's own stem cells is that they may not need to take anti-rejection drugs, which can significantly reduce life expectancy.
There are many other trials - especially in the field of heart damage - which are yielding promising results. Patients are understandably impatient for therapies now, rather than later. But the message to them from the stem cell conference in Nottingham will be - keep the faith.
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Fergus,
Doctors want to doctor. Surgeons (incl. transplant surgeons) are worse as the always err on wanting to carve up the patient.
I know there are no so many 'glamorous' World wide trips to take, but is health also not about staying healthy by treating our bodies correctly and refraining from doing the things that we know do us harm. (I dare not mention particulars as their marketing and lobby systems will object and get this posting removed.)
Can we have more about food and nutrition and sensible use of our bodies please, and less about novel techniques which will never be available to the masses of the poor around the World.
Even now out NHS may well be under severe attack from the amateurs who we have entrusted the task of running it. They believe so much in amateurism that the think that rather than experienced professional management systems they will 'force' untrained and unwilling GPs to run the NHS when they have neither the time nor the skills set to do so. This is the major medical disaster that is unfolding right here in the UK.
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The main problem with embryonic stem cell research is getting enough embryos for a viable treatment. Reducing women to the status of egg factories is not the solution.
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If stem cell medicine can help just one patient that would normally have to receive an organ transplant, it will be worth-while. Organ transplant is not just for those who have misused their bodies over the years, but for people who were unlucky to be born with defective parts.
I am all for information on food, nutrition and exercise to enable people to be as healthy as possible, but there is a need for research into those areas of medicine for people unfortunate enough to have defective organs through no fault of their own.
You have to know someone who has undergone a transplant operation to know the effects both before and after the operation, especially the effect of the drugs these people need to take in order to survive the transplant. If stem cell research can remove the amount of drugs patients need to take, this can only be a good thing.
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Fergus,
some clarity on the various stem cells and their potential for therapy is required here.
Stem cell therapy has been practiced since 1968 (bone marrow transplantation). Many other "stem cell" therapies are currently in various trials although there is some debate whether the cells in question are really stem cells at all.
The most exciting prospects come from embryonic stem cells which are the only stem cells capable of differentiation into all adult cell types. No therapy using these cells is currently available (at least in the West) although a clinical trial has been approved in the US.
What neccessitated the plug for Prof. Warburton's work is a mystery to me.
John Airey: This is not correct. Embryonic stem cells are capable of indefinite expansion so one line (which can now be derived without destroying the embryo) could be used to treat many compatible patients.
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what about adult stem cells through neurogenesis?
hmmmm oh yer the chemicals involed are banned THC
seems were going round in circles...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurogenesis#Adult_neural_stem_cells
Neurogenesis (birth of neurons) is the process by which neurons are generated. Most active during pre-natal development.
Which further leads to the question what is a embryonic stem cell.
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While Geron may still be "on indefinite hold" regarding clinical application of stem cells, as stated, another California firm, Stemedica (www.stemedica.com), appears to be moving forward with its U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved clinical trial for an Investigational New Drug (IND) for ischemic stroke based on adult human mesenchymal stem cells. Previous to this approval I had the opportunity to witness first-hand the treatment (in a very modern Mexican hospital) with Stemedica's stem cells of a family member with cerebral palsy and spinal cord injury. The result in our case, while no miraculous recovery, was significantly improved mobility and quality of life.
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There is a recent BBC Interview with Professor James Richardson about Stem Cells Therapy with arthritis with trials at the Oswestry Hospital - see the article - http://www.oscell.co.uk/news/stem-cell-therapy-for-arthritis.html
You can see more information on the trials and procedures at the Oswestry Hospital at their OsCell Website - http://www.oscell.co.uk/
Fergus Walsh - It would be ideal if you got BBC to add a link to this article to the OsCell website on the related BBC articles (for example: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10615802 and http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10613540). There is a link to the RJAH main website is no information relating to this, but I've found that there is information at the Oswestry Hospital OsCell website http://www.oscell.co.uk/ has related information to this article and on the procedures done at the Oswestry Hospital.
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Why has there been little or no coverage about the announcement by Geron Corporation of the beginning of human clinical trials for spinal cord injury?
Alan Douglas
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Stem cells are an ode to philosophical beliefs that state simple dictums such as " when you need a solution, look within you." With lesser and lesser new molecules being developed, stemcells are truly a solution within you. A company i know named Stemade in India is pioneering dental stem cells. Dental stem cells are believed to be superior to all other stem cells...would love to know what people on this blog think
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It all sounds marvelous and too good to be true. At present, stems cells are in good supply. When stem cell therapy goes main stream, stem cell may become less available due to heavy demand. I worry that less than desirable stem cell harvesting will occur in the future and I can already see who will become the victims.
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