Word: marrows
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Pittsburgh, the unsightly flab many of us lug around is a previously unsuspected source of stem cells, a remarkably versatile class of cells that can in principle be transformed into a variety of body tissues. Researchers already suspect that stem cells found in fetuses and in the bone marrow and brains of adults might one day be used to repair hearts, livers and other organs...
Each of these sources, however, is problematic. Bone marrow and the brain are difficult or painful to get to surgically. And cells from in-vitro embryos and aborted fetuses pose ethical and political problems. Indeed, President Bush is soon likely to make right-to-lifers happy by reimposing a ban on using federal funds for research on such tissues. (Another possible source of stem cells announced last week--the placentas of pregnant women--avoids these problems but hasn't been confirmed...
...cells, by contrast, are plentiful and easy to harvest--just ask anyone who has had liposuction. They are also rich in stem cells--not so surprising, in retrospect, since bone marrow and fat develop from the same embryonic tissue. Not only did the researchers get stem cells from liposuctioned human fat, they also made them grow into bone, muscle and cartilage cells--a sign that more ambitious tissue engineering is not out of the question...
...LaRues could have opted for bone-marrow transplants. But these are painful, require precise genetic matches that can take months to find and often fail. "The doctors basically told us [transplants] would either kill them or save them," says Theresa. So they chose an experimental alternative: transfusing the youngsters with a type of stem cell harvested from a newborn's umbilical cord and placenta. Unlike their more controversial cousins, embryonic stem cells, which are harvested from aborted fetuses and can develop into almost any cell, cord blood cells are used to rebuild blood and immune systems--exactly what the LaRue...
...hard not to get excited about an experimental cancer drug that shows real promise fighting chronic myeloid leukemia. The standard treatments for this rare disease--chemotherapy and interferon--are pretty tough on the body. Bone-marrow transplants can lead to a cure, but even patients with a perfectly matched donor face a 20% risk of dying in the first six months after the procedure...