iPS cells

The Human Cloning Goal Behind Stem Cell Cures

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Buried deep in an encouraging story about another advance in turning skin cells into stem cells, we see more evidence of biotechnology’s ultimate human cloning goal. First, the good news. An acid bath may be able to replace viruses in transforming skin cells into stem cells that can become any type of cell in the […]

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Follow $ to Non-Embryonic Stem Cell Research!

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Ten years ago, we were in the midst of a heated national debate over embryonic stem cell research (ESCR). Proponents castigated opponents (like me) as “anti-science,” and theocratic for opposing ESCR federal funding based on ethical concerns. When we claimed that alternatives to embryonic stem cells showed great promise, we were derided as Luddites. Embryonic […]

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Ethical Stem Cells Create Human “Mini-Brains”

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The induced pluripotent stem cell breakthrough continues to be useful in the very ways that “the scientists” once said only human cloning could provide. Now, in what appears to be a very notable breakthrough, they have been used to make patient-specific, tailor made neural cells for study. More, they have even created a “mini-brain.” From […]

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Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Without Genes

The progress on induced pluripotent stem cells continues. Until now, the only way to turn a skin cell into a stem cell was to use genes to “reprogram” the cell. Now, it has been done with chemicals in mouse studies. From the Nature story: Scientists have demonstrated a new way to reprogram adult tissue to […]

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First Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Trial

At present, there are three small human safety embryonic stem cell studies. All deal with macular degeneration-type conditions. And now, a human trial looks to soon get underway in Japan using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), that is, stem cells made from a patient’s own skin or other tissues. From the Nature News story: Having […]

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Ethical Stem Cells as Effective as Embryonic

Recent experiments with mice indicate that induced pluripotent stem cells — that is embryonic-like stem cells made from skin — are as effective as their unethically derived cousins. From the Nature News report: A paper published in Nature today could dispel a cloud over the hopes of turning a patient’s own cells into perfectly matched […]

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Non Embryonic Pluripotent Stem Cell Human Trial Soon?

Advanced Cell Technology claims it will soon apply to the FDA to conduct a human trial using induced pluripotent stem cells, that is, stem cells created from normal skin or other somatic cells. From the Wall Street Journal story: A Massachusetts biotechnology company said it expects as early as Friday to start the process for […]

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Objections to Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Vetted

Recently, I was tagged on twitter about a blog post entitled “Pro-Life Objections to Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.” On a number of occasions, especially when I screen our documentary film Lines That Divide: The Great Stem Cell Debate, I am asked the questions this post raises. That’s when I turn to the various experts CBC […]

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Ethics? What Ethics? Results!

By Matthew Eppinette, CBC’s New Media Manager Think Progress carries an interesting article on stem cell research and the 2012 election. In the end, “Why Stem Cells Are 2012′s Sleeper Issue” asserts that “the science [of stem cells] is far too unsettled to make clear determinations about which research [embryonic or non-embryonic] is most likely […]

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Lead Into Gold: IPSCs Continue to Amaze

By Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Special Consultant to the CBC Another breakthrough was announced by Stanford scientists using induced pluripotent stem cells. From the press release: Stanford University School of Medicine investigators have shown that iPS cells, viewed as a possible alternative to human embryonic stem cells, can mirror the defining defects of a genetic […]

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Functional Liver Cells Made from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

By Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Special Consultant to the CBC Good news on the iPSC front. Scientists have created working liver cells from skin cells. From the MSNBC story: British scientists have developed a new stem cell technique for growing working liver cells which could eventually avoid the need for costly and risky liver transplants. […]

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Human Cloning Research Breakthrough Is Unethical

By Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Special Consultant to the CBC The Washington Post headline is misleading: “Scientists Report Possibly Crucial Advance in Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research.” In actuality, this is a potential advance in human cloning research.(Scientists have long known how to create ES cell lines from destroyed embryos.) The story, byline Rob Stein, […]

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Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Akin to Embryonic Stem Cells

By Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Special Consultant to the CBC Ethical stem cell research continues to advance. The University of Wisconsin, Madison — where human ESCs were first derived — has found the IPSCs and ESCs are virtually identical. From the U of W story: A study released Sunday shows embryonic stem cells and induced […]

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IPS Stem Cells Could Allow Human Organs to be Grown in Pigs

By Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Special Consultant to the CBC Again, we see the importance of animal research, with the potential that the organ shortage could be largely solved by growing patient DNA-identical human organs in pigs for transplant. From the Telegraph story: Scientists have found they can create chimeric animals that have organs belonging […]

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National Science Foundation Misleads About Adult Stem Cells

By Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Special Consultant to the CBC They have to know better than this. The National Science Foundation has erroneously conflated “induced pluripotent stem cells” with “adult” stem cells in discussing a report — which I also covered here — calling for continued federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. From its […]

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IPSCs in Mice Stimulate Immune Response

By Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Special Consultant to the CBC A recent mouse experiment showed that IPSCs stimulate tissue rejection in mice. From the story: In an unexpected setback to efforts to harness a promising new type of stem cell to treat diseases, researchers reported on Friday that tissues made from those stem cells might […]

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Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells Grow New Retina in Dish

By Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Special Consultant to the CBC Japanese scientists have used ES cells to grow a primordial retina. From the story: The team from the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research in Japan, first cultivated embryonic stem cells in a test tube and then added proteins to trigger them into developing. They […]

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Ethical Stem Cell Research Continues to Advance

By Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Special Consultant to the CBC The days of embryonic stem cells as “the only hope” are long gone. Sure scientists still talk about them as the “gold standard” and media still pound the drum, but the paint is fast pealing off that meme. Moreover, the field is only inching forward […]

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