I Hate To Say I Told You So When It Comes to Embryonic Stem Cell Research (No I Don't)

For as far back as I can remember, the proponants of embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) have been screaming (literally as well as figuratively) that the only stem cells that offer any real hope were embryonic stem cells. They would ignore, downplay &/or out & out lie about the facts when it came to the successes involving adult stem cells or umbilical cord stem cells. They would also lump all stem cells together to mislead people. & if you dared to oppose the use of embryonic stem cells they would then say you were against all stem cell research, another lie.

Well, in the past few years, despite huge amounts of funding from state & local governments, embryonic stem cells have been proven to be anything but a source of hope. In fact, they have been proven to be a huge waste of our money that could have beem used to expand research using adult stem cells that continue to offer real hope. (See links in side bar for sites with success stories)

In fact, while not actually admiting failure, many promoters are backing away from their earlier claims (like Michael J Fox's foundation).

Which takes me to 1 of the latest successes using adult stem cells.

According to a recent story in The Telegraph, "Scientists have grown human bone from stem cells in a laboratory." In this case, the adult stem cells were taken from fat tissue. Yes, fat cells. So much for 1 of the ESCR claim, that adult stem cells are unipotent. This is 1 of the oft repeated & long disproved lies ESCR proponants have used.

Dr Shai Meretzki, chief executive of Bonus BioGroup, with the human bones grown from stem cells

It took the researchers  around a month to grow them into sections of fully-formed living human bone up to a couple of inches long. The 1st trial on patients is on course to be conducted later this year It will be done by an Israeli biotechnology company that has been working with academics on the technology.

Professor Avinoam Kadouri, head of the scientific advisory board for Bonus BioGroup, explained how it would be done. "We use three dimensional structures to fabricate the bone in the right shape and geometry. We can grow these bones outside the body and then transplant it to the patient at the right time.

By scanning the damaged bone area, the implant should fit perfectly and merge with the surrounding tissue. There are no problems with rejection as the cells come from the patient's own body."

The technology has been developed along with researchers at the Technion Institute of Research in Israel. It uses three dimensional scans of the damaged bone to build a gel-like scaffold that matches the shape. The stem cells, known as mesenchymal stem cells are obtained from the patient's fat using liposuction. Then they are grown into living bone on the scaffold inside a "bioreactor" – an automated machine that provides the right conditions to encourage the cells to develop into bone.

The technique has wide potential. Ultimately, it could allow doctors to replace bones that have been smashed in accidents, fill in defects where bone is missing such as cleft palate, or carry out reconstructive plastic surgery. Professor Kadouri also said that work was under way to grow the soft cartilage at the ends of bones. The cartilage will be needed if entire bones are to be produced in a laboratory.

Research has been done using lab rats has already been done.. They have successfully received the bone transplants. The scientists were able to insert almost an inch of laboratory-grown human bone into the middle section of a rat’s leg bone, where it successfully merged with the remaining animal bone. So much for PETA's continuing claim that that animal research serves no useful human purpose. As Wesley J. Smith said in the Life News article I found this out from, this shows that PETA's claim is a lie. Something I wholeheartedly agree with.

While the ESCR gang would like this whole fiasco involving the failed use of embryonic stem cells to fade away quietly, we must not let it be forgotten. We must remember that fraudulent claims were made in order to get money for this research. & that if they were willing to do it one or more times in the past, they will do it again.

Meanwhile, we can rejoice that once again real hope has been given to people using adult stem cells rather than false hope that was used to justify the murdering of unborn babies in the name of Mengeleian style research.



Source: Embryonic Stem Cell Research Debate Dying as Adult Cells Progress