U.S. Army Knows Truth About Stem Cells

Excellent news that I wanted to share:

U.S. Army Gives $700,000 to Stem Cell Therapy Research

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

International biopharmaceutical company NeoStem announced Monday it was awarded a $700,000 contract by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, to advance adult stem cell therapies in treating traumatic wounds.

The contract was to evaluate the use of topically applied bone marrow-derived adult mesenchymal stem cells for rapid wound healing.

Robin Smith, board chairman and chief executive officer of NeoStem, said the company was thrilled to have the U.S. government's support to advance its technology and honored to become part of the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center’s regenerative medicine portfolio.

"It is our goal with this important project to leverage adult stem cell technology to help our soldiers avoid amputations and immobilization from injuries that they may sustain while fighting for our country," Smith said.

"Wound healing could represent just the beginning of more collaborative projects involving other clinical indications, such as spinal cord injuries and retinal damage, both of which affect American warriors who serve our country in the global war on terrorism," he added.

The US Army recognizes that the future of stem cell research lies in Adult stem cells and NOT embryonic stem cells.   I am excited to hear that this kind of research is being done because when I am a physician taking care of our military men and women, I hope that I can better treat their injuries with this type of technology.  This is just one more piece of evidence of why funding for embryonic stem cells should be shifted entirely to adult stem cells.

Vatican Backs Stem Cell Research

I hope that the title of this post caught your attention. It was supposed to.  I thought that employing the same tactics of the main stream media might help spread the message a bit.  That tactic being, of course, to leave ambiguity in regards to what type of stem cells are being used.  In this case, it would be ADULT stem cells.  So here is part of the story:

ROME – The Vatican is pushing for research of adult stem cells as an alternative to the use of embryonic stem cells, which the Catholic Church opposes because it maintains that the destruction of the embryo amounts to the killing of human life.
On Friday, the Catholic Church threw its support and resources behind the study of intestinal adult stem cells by a group of experts led by the University of Maryland School of Medicine. The group wants to explore the potential use of those cells in the treatment of intestinal and possibly other diseases, and is seeking an initial euro2 million ($2.7 million) to get the project going, officials said.
"This research protects life," Cardinal Renato Martino said during a meeting with Italian and American scientists and health officials to outline the project. "I want to stress that it doesn't involve embryonic stem cells, where one helps oneself and then throws the embryo away and kills a human life.".....

....In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI said the Catholic Church can encourage somatic stem cell research — also known as adult stem cell research — "because of the favorable results obtained through these alternative methods," and more importantly because it respects "the life of the human being at every stage of his or her existence."

"Ethically, the rules the Catholic Church promotes are really very simple: That all research be respectful of human life," said Father Bob Gahl, an American professor of Moral Philosophy at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. "Nobody should be killed in the process of doing medical research. So this new project falls exactly within the Catholic Church's ethical guidelines."
Dr. George Daley, a stem cell expert at Children's Hospital in Boston and past president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, said both adult and embryonic stem cells may prove useful for treating different diseases.
"I applaud the Vatican for being interested in supporting biomedical research," Daley said Friday, "but I can't help but think there's an agenda."
He called intestinal stem cells "a very exciting area of basic research" but said therapeutic uses are only speculative at this point.

How quaint that this scientist would think there is an agenda behind the Vatican's support of this research.  Perhaps that agenda would be the continuation of ethical stem cell research, which has already shown so much promise and therapeutic application in the treatment of so many diseases?  Regarding his comment about the 'speculative' aspect of this research, it would appear that intestinal stem cells hold as much if not more promise than embryonic stem cells do.  It is unfortunate that a majority of scientists are so ideologically blinded by the desire to master embryonic stem cells (which have ZERO therapeutic application at this point) rather than supporting the continued research into the success of adult stem cells.

This step by the Vatican is wonderful, in regards to the relationship between science and the Church.  The Church has constantly supported the sciences that do not violate human dignity or the Law of God, and this is just another step in the great history of the Church. 

Adult Stem Cells: Exciting News From Georgia

There is some great news of a new clinical trial in the works down in Georgia, where researchers will investigate the efficacy of adult stem cells in the treatment of cerebral palsy.  This is important work and needs to be publicized, particularly because the main stream media continues to ignore advances like these or simply refers to them enigmatically as 'stem cells' without ever emphasizing that these are adult stem cells rather than embryonic.  These actions in regards to publicity are all ways that the powers that be continue to try and push forward the unethical failures that are embryonic stem cells rather than focus on something that works: Adult stem cells.  So read the article and keep spreading the word that there is great hope for treatments using adult stem cells.

AUGUSTA, Ga., Feb. 15 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they are starting a clinical trial to determine whether stem cells from umbilical cord blood

can help children with cerebral palsy.
Medical College of Georgia researchers said their study represents the first such U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved clinical trial. The study will include 40 children age 2-12 whose parents have stored cord blood at the Cord Blood Registry in Tucson, Ariz.
The principal investigator of the trial, Dr. James Carroll, a professor at the college's school of medicine, said umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells, which can divide and morph into different types of cells throughout the body. Cerebral palsy is caused by a brain injury or lack of oxygen in the brain.
Animal studies indicate that infused stem cells help injured brain cells recover and replace brain cells that have died, Carroll said.
While no controlled clinical trials have been conducted to date, Carroll said previous studies have shown marked improvement in children with cerebral palsy about three months after an initial infusion of cord blood.
"Evidence up to this point has been purely anecdotal," he said. "While a variety of cord blood stem cell therapies have been used successfully for more than 20 years, this study is breaking new ground in advancing therapies for brain injury -- a condition for which there is currently no cure."

H/T Mary Meets Dolly