New York: After more than 15 years of failures by scientists around the world and one outright fraud, biologists have finally created human stem cells by the same technique that produced Dolly the cloned sheep in 1996: They transplanted genetic material from an adult cell into an egg whose own DNA had been removed.
The result is a harvest of human embryonic stem cells, the seemingly magic cells capable of morphing into any of the 200-plus kinds that make up a person. The feat, reported on Wednesday in the journal Cell, could re-ignite the field of stem-cell medicine, which has been hobbled by technical challenges as well as ethical issues. Until now, the most natural sources of human stem cells have been human embryos, whose use in research poses ethical quandaries.
The technique announced on Wednesday, by scientists at Oregon Health & Science University and the Oregon National Primate Research Center, uses unfertilized human eggs. Eliminating the need for human embryos could boost attempts to use stem cells and their progeny to replace cells damaged or destroyed in heart disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries and other devastating conditions. But the achievement could also revive fears of reproductive cloning, or producing genetic copies of living (or dead) individuals.
Even before the study was published, a British watchdog group called Human Genetics Alert protested the research. "Scientists have finally delivered the baby that would-be human clones have been waiting for: a method for reliably creating
11:20 PM, May 15, 2013
Chicago: A 2-year-old girl born without a windpipe now has a new one grown from her own stem cells, the youngest patient in the world to benefit from the experimental treatment. Hannah Warren has been unable to breathe, eat, drink or swallow on her own since she was born in South Korea in 2010. Until the operation at a central Illinois hospital, she had spent her entire life in a...
02:26 AM, May 01, 2013
Washington: Scientists claim to have discovered a new type of stem cells responsible for creative thinking and memories in humans. Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute identified a stem cell population that may give birth to neurons which play a key role in abstract thought and creativity. The finding also paves the way for production of these neurons in culture, a first step towards developing better treatments for cognitive disorders...
06:48 PM, Aug 10, 2012
Washington: A growing number of Americans are travelling to India to seek treatment for rare diseases through India's experimental embryonic stem cell therapy, according to an investigative report. Among them Cash Burnaman, a 6-year-old South Carolina boy, who travelled with his parents to India seeking treatment for a rare genetic condition that has left him developmentally disabled, CNN reported. "Cash is mute. He walks with the aid of braces. To...
09:41 AM, May 28, 2012
New Delhi: 2011 was a year not just of landmark political revolutions but also of medical marvels. Be it HIV prevention or a vaccine for malaria, 2011 saw many medical breakthroughs. Here's a look at the top five: HIV treatment as prevention: It has been deemed as the most important scientific breakthrough of the year 2011. A study published in the journal Science this year, found that the same drugs...
08:45 AM, Dec 29, 2011
London: Scientists have discovered a way to transform ordinary tissue into beating heart muscle cells, a finding they say could soon pave the way for new therapeutic approaches for making a damaged heart to repair itself. Using a zebrafish system, a team from Fudan University in China developed a small and robust molecule that can transform stem cells into beating heart muscle cells. The scientists, who detailed their work in...
03:35 PM, Dec 26, 2011
A decade after George Bush set the clock back for stem cell research, the science is showing signs of regeneration. Stem cells are mother cells that give rise to other cell types in the body. One of the more visible and vocal proponents of human embryonic stem cells (ES), Stephen Minger, says that the number of trials that are currently on suggests that the field is emerging from the shadow...
10:41 AM, Sep 23, 2011
London: Scientists claim to have for the first time created viable artificial sperm using stem cells, a major breakthrough which they say could lead to new treatments for infertile men. A team at Kyoto University in Japan has created the sperm-producing germ cells in a laboratory and transferred them into infertile mice, which after the treatment were able to produce healthy offspring, 'The Daily Telegraph' reported. The development could help...
02:42 PM, Aug 05, 2011
Tokyo: Workers entered one of the damaged reactor buildings at Japan's stricken nuclear power plant on Thursday for the first time since it was rocked by an explosion in the days after a devastating earthquake, the plant's operator said. Tokyo Electric Power Co said workers connected ventilation and air filtration equipment in Unit 1 in an attempt to reduce radiation levels in the air inside the building. The utility must...
08:18 PM, May 05, 2011
Chicago: Health officials should collect blood from workers at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in case they are accidentally exposed to high levels of radiation and need a stem cell transplant, Japanese researchers said on Thursday. They said gathering blood from the workers would give them a ready source of their own stem cells that could help rebuild their bone marrow should they become exposed to high levels...
07:42 AM, Apr 15, 2011
London: Scientists have developed an amazing spray gun that speedily heals severe burn injuries with stem cells. Jörg Gerlach from the University of Pittsburgh's McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, US has created a method which regenerates healthy skin stem cells from the victim and sprays it on the burned skin. Though scientists have been able to regenerate sheets of skin for decades, it is a lengthy process and the resulting...
12:43 PM, Feb 03, 2011
New Delhi: For the first time ever, US researchers will be using human embryonic stem cells for treatment of spinal cord injuries. The stems cells were tested successfully in rats enabling them to once again walk and run. This is the first phase of clinical trials which will determine the safety of stem cell treatment. It will enroll up to 10 patients who have suffered spinal cord injuries, injecting them...
07:46 PM, Oct 12, 2010
The eight-layer, early stage retina is the first three-dimensional tissue structure to be made from stem cells. ...
03:49 PM, May 27, 2010
Injection of his stem cells into cardiac muscles will repair the damages. ...
05:20 PM, Sep 29, 2009
An Indian researcher is working on the trials in the United States. ...
04:20 PM, Jul 16, 2009
Diseases like Parkinson's, diabetes and cancer may become treatable. ...
02:10 PM, Mar 23, 2009
Obama will allow federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. ...
12:12 PM, Mar 11, 2009
Stem cells gets the Indian medical fraternity excited. ...
07:01 PM, Oct 08, 2008
Georgetown, Guyana: Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal took 6-42 and captain Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq followed up with an unbroken 78-run partnership that gave Pakistan a narrow edge over West Indies on day three of a low-scoring first Test on Saturday. At the close at the National Stadium, Providence, the visitors were 80-3 in pursuit of a victory target of 219. Misbah and Shafiq rescued their team from the peril of 2-3...
10:36 AM, Jan 25, 2008
Hyderabad: Deccan Chargers slumped to its sixth defeat in the ongoing IPL here on Tuesday and captain Kumar Sangakkara blamed his butterfingered fielders and some sloppy death bowling for the Hyderabad outfit's disappointing performance against Kolkata Knight Riders. Riding on Yusuf Pathan's explosive 26-ball 47, KKR posted a challenging 169 for four and then restricted Deccan to 149 for six to eke out a 20-run win. Pathan, who cashed in...
12:37 AM, Jan 22, 2008
