Following President Bush’s veto of a bill allowing federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, I wrote an article detailing why that was the correct thing to do. To summarize, I said that 1) scientists are now able to turn multipotent cells into pluripotent cells, and 2) scientists are having greater success with adult stem cells.
Science Daily has more evidence that adult stem cells may be the better bet in stem cell research:
After extracting the stem cells from human fat tissue the researchers worked to find a less toxic way to treat colon cancer than the standard-of-care chemotherapy agent, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), which can produce toxic side effects in normal cells. They expanded the number of mesenchymal stem cells in the laboratory and then used a retrovirus vector to insert the gene cytosine deaminase into the cell. This gene can convert a less toxic drug, 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC), to 5-FU inside the stem cells, and the chemotherapy can then seep out into the tumor, producing a lethal by-stander effect.
In nude mice — animals with an inhibited immune system — engrafted with human colon cancer, the researchers first injected the engineered mesenchymal stem cells, then 5-FC. They found tumor growth was inhibited by up to 68.5 percent in the animals, and none of the mice exhibited any signs of toxic side effects.
However, none of the animals remained tumor-free. “The procedure was quite effective even though we applied the stem cells just once. Obviously, repeated treatment will increase the efficacy, as would using this strategy in combination with other treatments,” Altaner said.
Promising work in the battle against cancer. And no humans had to die to achieve it.
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