Oklahoma is investing in adult stem cell research. From this article:

“State lawmakers have given preliminary approval to legislation that could provide nearly $2 million for adult stem cell research in Oklahoma.”

Which is pretty cool news. Like this news from Dr. Burt at Northwestern. Dr. Burt’s research is with patients who have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. He uses the patients OWN stem cells to treat their disease. Which has the added benefit of not causing rejection issues. Read this!

“Patients in the early stages of multiple sclerosis had their disability reversed in a study that used their stem cells to “reset” their malfunctioning immune system.

All 21 patients in the study at Northwestern University in Chicago had the “relapsing-remitting” form of the disease that makes their symptoms alternately flare up and recede. Three years after being treated, on average, 17 of the patients had improved on tests of their symptoms, 16 had experienced no relapse and none had deteriorated, the study found.

“This is the first study to actually show reversal of disability,” said Richard Burt, an associate professor in the division of immunotherapy at Northwestern, and the lead author of the study published today in the British journal, the Lancet. “Some people had complete disappearance of all symptoms.”

Author Profile

Jennifer Lahl, CBC Founder
Jennifer Lahl, CBC Founder
Jennifer Lahl, MA, BSN, RN, is founder and president of The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network. Lahl couples her 25 years of experience as a pediatric critical care nurse, a hospital administrator, and a senior-level nursing manager with a deep passion to speak for those who have no voice. Lahl’s writings have appeared in various publications including Cambridge University Press, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News, and the American Journal of Bioethics. As a field expert, she is routinely interviewed on radio and television including ABC, CBS, PBS, and NPR. She is also called upon to speak alongside lawmakers and members of the scientific community, even being invited to speak to members of the European Parliament in Brussels to address issues of egg trafficking; she has three times addressed the United Nations during the Commission on the Status of Women on egg and womb trafficking.