Word: implants
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...implant fetal cells into adults? Fetal cells, Gale explains, are "immunologically naive": during the early stages of pregnancy, they have not yet developed all the antigens, or distinctive surface proteins, that allow the recipient's immune system to identify and reject them. Another advantage of fetal cells is that they are generally not mature enough to cause graft-vs.-host disease, which can occur when the tissues of a transplant recipient are attacked by implanted adult cells. Also, fetal nerve cells, unlike adult cells, can regenerate and thus have the potential to repair a damaged brain or spinal cord. "These...
...been satisfied to stop there, we would never have invented the car and the airplane." Unfortunately, research faces difficulties. Many companies have pulled back because of the cost of testing and the risk of suits. Federally funded research is down as well. Clinical tests of an NIH-developed implant system called Capronor stalled for more than a year because the company designated to study the device could not get insurance. Says Hasson: "We are rapidly becoming an underdeveloped nation in terms of contraception...
...used in 86 countries. Ironically, it was created by the U.S.'s Upjohn Co., but it has repeatedly failed to win the approval of the Food and Drug Administration because of concern about side effects. Norplant, which releases a hormone for five years, is available in five nations. The implant was developed by scientists of the New York City-based Population Council and will be submitted to the FDA next year. But even if Norplant gains acceptance, it is unlikely that any American corporation will market it domestically because of the liability problems. If the U.S. wants newer, better contraceptives...
Schroeder's troubled history, and that of other permanent Jarvik-7 patients, has led critics to call for a temporary halt in the program. Examination of some of the implanted hearts has revealed accumulations of platelets, which can contribute to blood clots in the brain, in the devices' crevices and along the path blood travels. Says Dr. Lyle Joyce, who assisted DeVries at the first Jarvik-7 implant operation on Barney Clark and is now head of the artificial-heart program at the Minneapolis Heart Institute: "It is time to wait for new modifications of the Jarvik...
...current device, many believe, should be used to sustain a patient until a natural heart can be transplanted. About a dozen such operations have been performed in the U.S. Some experts argue that the need for a permanent implant is waning as heart transplants have become increasingly successful and the criteria have been broadened to accept previously rejected candidates. Indeed, notes DeVries, the last five patients referred to him as potential recipients of permanent artificial pumps have been given transplants. He remains convinced of the need for a permanent artificial device. With FDA permission for three more operations...