Jester
05-20-2005, 10:24 PM
S. Korea Makes Stem Cell Leap
(Page 1 of 3)
WASHINGTON, May 19, 2005
(AP) South Korean scientists have dramatically sped up the creation of human embryonic stem cells, growing 11 new batches that for the first time were a genetic match to injured or sick patients.
It is a major advancement in the quest to grow patients' own replacement tissue to treat diseases.
The same scientists last year were the first to clone a human embryo. Now they have improved, by more than tenfold, their efficiency at culling these master cells, thus making pursuit of therapeutic cloning more practical.
"I didn't think they would be at this stage for decades, let alone within a year," said Dr. Gerald Schatten of the University of Pittsburgh. He acted as an adviser to the Korean lab in analyzing its data, which was being published Friday in the journal Science.
"This paper will be of major impact," said stem-cell researcher Dr. Rudolph Jaenisch of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass. "The argument that it will not work in humans will not be tenable after this."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/05/19/tech/main696SPAMSPAMSPAM.shtml
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In the meantime, President Bush has said that he will veto the stem cell legislation that Congress will likely vote on next week. Though stem cell research continues to be hampered here in the US, we can hopefully depend on other countries to continue the progress that has so far been made in this field. However, it is regrettable if we might not be a part of it.
(Page 1 of 3)
WASHINGTON, May 19, 2005
(AP) South Korean scientists have dramatically sped up the creation of human embryonic stem cells, growing 11 new batches that for the first time were a genetic match to injured or sick patients.
It is a major advancement in the quest to grow patients' own replacement tissue to treat diseases.
The same scientists last year were the first to clone a human embryo. Now they have improved, by more than tenfold, their efficiency at culling these master cells, thus making pursuit of therapeutic cloning more practical.
"I didn't think they would be at this stage for decades, let alone within a year," said Dr. Gerald Schatten of the University of Pittsburgh. He acted as an adviser to the Korean lab in analyzing its data, which was being published Friday in the journal Science.
"This paper will be of major impact," said stem-cell researcher Dr. Rudolph Jaenisch of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass. "The argument that it will not work in humans will not be tenable after this."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/05/19/tech/main696SPAMSPAMSPAM.shtml
------------------------------------------------------
In the meantime, President Bush has said that he will veto the stem cell legislation that Congress will likely vote on next week. Though stem cell research continues to be hampered here in the US, we can hopefully depend on other countries to continue the progress that has so far been made in this field. However, it is regrettable if we might not be a part of it.