Lifeline Cord Blood

BBC, By Ruth Whitbread

The Roman Catholic Church is giving its support to a new research centre, which it believes could provide an alternative to the use of human embryos for medical research. On 1 January, 2001, the Sacre Cuore (Sacred Heart) University in Rome is opening a placenta bank, providing researchers with human cells from what the Church considers an ethical source...

We show that WJ has in vitro osteogenic differentiation capacity and in vivo, enhances bone growth in animal cleft palate models indicating its potential use as a natural tissue engineering construct for regenerative clinical applications. The success of this approach would represent a paradigm shift in the treatment of CLP patients by reducing or eliminating the need for subsequent bone grafting.

We have performed multiple pre-clinical studies that demonstrate that this approach improves healing of cleft palate defects in animals. These are being repeated in larger animals as required by the FDA prior to translating this approach to treat children with cleft lip and palate.  Once these final components are completed, we anticipate that clinical trials should begin within the next 12-18 months. 

Tom Blackwell, National Post

For fetuses, the umbilical cord is a lifeline. Once those babies are out of the womb, however, the cord becomes so much medical waste, tossed out even if the cord blood is saved for future use. But now a group of Toronto researchers says it has discovered that umbilical cords are a "virtually inexhaustible" source of promising stem cells, helping scientists avoid the ethical minefield around cells retrieved from human embryos.

24/06/2010

Ο Φωτογράφος Λέναρντ Νίλσον πέρασε 10 χρόνια από την ζωή του αποτυπώνοντας την ανάπτυξη του ανθρώπινου εμβρύου, από την σύλληψη μέχρι την γέννηση.