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Stem Cells Restore Feeling In Paraplegic

Vicissidude writes "According to WorldNetDaily scientists in Korea report using umbilical cord blood stem cells to restore feeling and mobility to a spinal-cord injury patient. The research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Cytotherapy, centered on a woman who had been a paraplegic 19 years due to an accident. After an infusion of umbilical cord blood stem cells, stunning results were recorded: 'The patient could move her hips and feel her hip skin on day 15 after transplantation. On day 25 after transplantation her feet responded to stimulation.'"

25 of 540 comments (clear)

  1. Benefit of the doubt by BWJones · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Wow, given this potential, I am surprised this work was not published in one of the bigger journals like Science or Nature? Perhaps it was submitted? I cannot get this particular journal with our institutional subscription, so I cannot examine the article first hand.

    However, giving them the benefit of the doubt, it is too bad the field of stem cell research in the US has been badly damaged by policies the current Whitehouse administration have put into place. A good number of scientific teams formerly here in the US have had to leave the country to continue their work and others are having to modify their protocols to use one of the "acceptable" lines of stem cells the Bush administration in their infinite wisdom have seen fit to approve for scientists that want to continue to receive federal funding for their work.

    It should be noted that it is not just patients who have been paralyzed that can potentially benefit from this work. Other potential therapies to come out of stem cell work include treatments for heart disease, retinal vision loss disorders, Parkinson's disease, Cystic Fibrosis and many others.

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    1. Re:Benefit of the doubt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If she gets up and walks, I don't think you need a peer reviewed journal to prove that the therapy works!

    2. Re:Benefit of the doubt by dustmachine · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Umm... you wouldn't even need to read the article to see that it says "umbilical cord blood stem cells." President Bush has no problems with using cord blood stem cells -- no ethical dilemas there at all. In fact this type of thing is already being done right here in the U.S.A. It's already established and is sometimes used instead of bone marrow transplants (depends on how close the match and other factors).

      Facts are cool.

    3. Re:Benefit of the doubt by BWJones · · Score: 4, Insightful

      For the one millionth time. The Bush Administration is just being strict on federal funding for embryonic stem cells researcg.

      Erm, this is a perfect example of why it is people like you that keep us from moving ahead. You had a knee jerk reaction and did not actually read what I wrote. Specifically, I wrote "for scientists that want to continue to receive federal funding for their work. So, what you fail to understand is how much research is funded by the federal government. If you are unable to acquire NIH funding, that severely limits the type and extent of research that can be accomplished given the current academic infrastructure.

      Stem cell research can be funded by state or by private organizations. Also, there is nothing limiting research other types of stem cells.

      True, but those funds are very very small compared to the types of funding that the federal government delivers. Also, Universities prefer to receive federal funding because of the indirect costs. In fact, in some situations, it is difficult to maintain a position at a University in biomedical research without federal funding.

      If you hate that the Bush Administration puts America in a bad light, why do you aid the cause by spreading misinformation which makes America look far worse than it really is?

      I love this country and I have a passion for science. What I want is for us to continue to succeed instead of being hamstrung by political agendas.

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  2. Re:Miracle Treatment by evil+agent · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If god wanted her to walk, he would have allowed it through the use of stem cells. Oh, wait, he has.

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    End transmission.
  3. Well... by Seoulstriker · · Score: 5, Insightful

    However, giving them the benefit of the doubt, it is too bad the field of stem cell research in the US has been badly damaged by policies the current Whitehouse administration have put into place.

    It's too bad that the OP doesn't understand that umbilical cord blood stem cells are not embryonic stem cells, but rather adult stem cells. But you and he are obviously blinded by politics because you fail to see that the US government is funding this kind of research very heavily.

    (BTW, there are ethics involved in research of all kinds, in engineering, in law, in business, etc. You simply do not agree with the idea that ethics should be a part of stem cell research.)

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    1. Re:Well... by nine-times · · Score: 5, Insightful
      (BTW, there are ethics involved in research of all kinds, in engineering, in law, in business, etc. You simply do not agree with the idea that ethics should be a part of stem cell research.)

      I hope you don't get modded down here, because it's a good point. I might respect the position of someone who, after much deliberation, believes that embryonic stem cells should be used. However, anyone who thinks that using embryonic stem cells is a no-brainer either doesn't understand the ethical considerations at stake, or simply doesn't believe in ethical considerations at all. Ethics is tricky business, and neither "the ends justify the means" nor "all's well that ends well" are sufficient ethical justifications.

      And yes, also the research here was done with umbilical cells, and the US government has absolutely no problem funding research using umbilical cells. The federal government simply put restrictions on the funding of gathering fetal cells, which is a long way from outlawing stem-cell research.

    2. Re:Well... by ikkonoishi · · Score: 2, Insightful

      What is the ethical problem with executing all the people in jail for life terms? They are otherwise going to die in jail anyways.

      What is the ethical problem with using said prisoners in medical research when they are going be die anyways? They are otherwise going to be executed anyways.

      Having looked upon those rationalizations look again at your arguement.

    3. Re:Well... by Hentai · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Are you familiar with the concept of "out of sight, out of mind"? Basically, fertility clinics are good because they let barren women conceive (insert happy face and thumbs up). They also require that SEVERAL embryos be created, many of which are destroyed (insert frowny face and shaking finger). This is bad, but in order to acknowledge that it is bad, we'd have to stop letting rich white women have the precious little babies they so desperately want (back to happy face and thumbs up). Therefore, we simply choose to pretend that the frowny-face thing we regrettably mentioned earlier isn't actually happening. Unfortunately, if we start actually deriving uses from said frowny-face, we have to actually own up to the reality of its occurance - which noone wants to do. So we avoid doing a good thing because to do so would involve acknowledging that another good thing we're already doing has a side-effect that many people would call bad.

      It's called "doublethink".

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      -Hentai [in vita non pacem est]
    4. Re:Well... by FredThompson · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The ethical question is similar to that of harvesting "unused" organs. At what point does the fertilized egg, which is life, become created solely because it can be sold as research or source material?

      THAT's the issue. Once it becomes legal to create human beings to kill them the society has legalized ghouls.

      That statement also shows the inextricably parallel issue of defining when human life begins. By definition, the choice to end a human life, especially one which has viable potential, is...shall we say...controversial.

      Under legal definitions which were decided by U.S. courts, not the U.S. society, human life starts after the baby's head exits the mother. That's an over-simplification, true.

      Rhetorical point: When does a baby truly become a person? When does a minor truly become an adult?

      Can you see it from the perspective I just described?

      --

      On a related note, given the huge number of people who want to adopt babies and can't find them as well as the people with fertility challenges, it seems to me a better way to "settle" the "issue" is to avoid it by making those fertilized embryos available to other people.

      "No, that embryo will be destroyed (and you can't have it to have a baby of your own.)" is heartbreaking to a lot of people.

      I've not been there myself and really don't know what would be involved. This is just an idea that came to me after watching friends struggle to have children.

      --

      Watch, 5 will get you 10 the bulk of replies to this will be flamefests.

    5. Re:Well... by pnuema · · Score: 4, Insightful
      What is the ethical problem with executing all the people in jail for life terms? They are otherwise going to die in jail anyways.

      Because you can reverse a life sentence if you find someone is wrongly convicted. You can't reverse an execution.

      What is the ethical problem with using said prisoners in medical research when they are going be die anyways? They are otherwise going to be executed anyways.

      Amendment VIII

      Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

      Next question?

    6. Re:Well... by IthnkImParanoid · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Those people are people with lives and thoughts and feelings (and maybe souls if you're of that disposition). The embryos don't have (and won't ever have) lives and thoughts and feelings, and if they have souls the way fertility clinics operate is the true problem, not just whether we use them for stem cells when it's determined they won't be implanted.

      --
      It's nothing but crumpled porno and Ayn Rand.
    7. Re:Well... by E-Rock · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I always thought it was a more theoretical argument.

      Today unused embryos are worthless trash, if legal for research they'd be a very valuable commodity. This might give the incentive to overcollect embryos or start paying women to donate embryos only to turn around and sell them.

    8. Re:Well... by nine-times · · Score: 2, Insightful
      I'm not very familiar with any online works specifically. "Ethics" of course, has a couple meaning and some nuances. However, the idea that "the ends justifies the means" is generally held to be, almost by definition, in conflict with ethics. This is because "ethics" are the principles which govern actions, and not outcomes.

      If you're really interested (I'll give you the benefit of the doubt despite being modded a troll) I'd tend to recommend Plato or Aristotle. Google for "Nicomachean Ethics" and you'll probably find a free version. There are plenty of works out there, but no authority.

    9. Re:Well... by Mr.+Slippery · · Score: 3, Insightful
      What is the ethical problem with executing all the people in jail for life terms? They are otherwise going to die in jail anyways.

      Non sequitor. The zygote or morula is going to be destroyed at time T, whether the method of destruction is research or the incinerator, whereas you are considering killing now a person who would not otherwise die until some unknown time in the future.

      A closer example would be, what is the ethical problem with using the bodies of condemned criminals for research after they are dead? (Punting the ethical issues surrounding state homicide for the moment.) Provided that the victim of execution agrees (since we generally recognize an ethical right of people to have their corpse disposed of in a matter that they approve of), I don't think there are any, and thanks to one such person we have the Visible Man project.

      We might consider that the parents have a proprietary interest in the cells in question, and that disposal should be according to their wishes; but assuming that is addressed, if the cells are about to be destroyed anyway, research seems ethically superior to the trash can.

      --
      Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
      You cannot wash away blood with blood
    10. Re:Well... by fossa · · Score: 2, Insightful

      ... don't read much actual Philosophy, do you? Makes it kind of hard to analyze Ethics if you've only done it from the comfort of the omniscient armchair.

      so... libraries don't have armchairs?

      the mere fact that an embryo has the potential to become a human being

      There's your mistake... I think those on the other side of the fence treat an embryo as a human being. Assume this other sider believes in a "soul", and it is this "soul" that is the defining mark of a human being. I really can't see any point for the soul to come into existence except at the moment the egg is fertilized. Though perhaps I have misunderstood those on the other side.

      For one thing, many things have the potential (i.e., have some causal relationship) to the creation of a healthy infant child. As someone else once suggested to me, one such thing is a glance of flirtation toward a fertile young woman. From that glance, there exists the potential for intercourse; from that intercourse, the potential of conception; from that conception, the potential of a human child in the form of an embryo.

      I must be gone now, for it is my moral obligation to make babies with all the fertile women I've laid eyes on today. (I like this "philosophy" stuff!)

    11. Re:Well... by Jim_Callahan · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Actually, its just the potential moral value = actual moral value argument that's invalid. The "all organisms with complete human genomes have souls (usually, one soul per genome, thus excluding dead skin cells, etc, separated from the largest mass posessing the unique genome)" + "things with souls have moral value" => "Embryos have moral value" is entirely valid, since embryos are organisms with a complete human genome. It's perfectly rational.

      The simple "embryos have no inherent moral value" is not itself a rational statement, but an assertion devoid of logic. To demonstrate rationality, you have to demonstrate a chain of causality from base assertions to a nontrivial solution. In this case the extent of the logic is "non-conscious things have no moral value" + "embryos aren't conscious" => "embryos have no moral value". The rest of the grandparent is a series of strawmen, which are fine for making points but don't actually support the main point in any way.

      When it all comes down to it, the two assertions in question are equally valid. They are both one step removed from the base assertions, and the base assertions both consist of an arbitrary statement of an ill-defined term (consciousness and soul) and an arbitrary, unsupportable assertion as to the moral value of said term (soul = good, consciousness = good). Careful definition can swing science into the favor of the consciousness decision, but careful definition can do the same for the soul argument. Even then, science cannot by its nature make moral commands, so wether the people involved are scientific or not is irrelevant.

      So, in conclusion, your point on the 'scientificness' of the debaters involved is irrelevant, and both of your examples exhibit roughly equivalent rationality. Rebuttal complete.

      --
      ...it's really a sad day for America when we require a goddamn ACT OF CONGRESS to make our DVD players work properly. ~
  4. Re:And what did it take.... by dwayner79 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    While I agree that aportion = killing babies, RTFA... It was adult Stem cells NOT embryonic.

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    Religion and politics, without the flame. godgab.org
  5. That site has been hijacked. by Mustang+Matt · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm not entirely sure what these pictures are of but I know enough to know they aren't what they're supposed to be of.

    --
    The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin
  6. Re:Extremely sceptical by jupiter909 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm confused. You say nerver cells grow at 1mm per year. What about when a kid grows up but a few inches in that year. How does that work then, magic?

  7. Re:Politics as usual by lukesl · · Score: 2, Insightful

    In legal terms, it's not a ban. In PRACTICAL terms, it is a ban. If all the equipment in a lab was bought with federal funds (which is the way most labs in the US are), how can you do any ES cell research? Build a new lab from scratch, not using any federal funds? In practical terms, how is that possible? Fortunately, some of the states (which traditionally have nothing to do with biomedical research funding) are stepping in and rectifying the idiocy of the federal government.

  8. Re:Here come the Stem Cell tirades by beforewisdom · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I can more than understand why some people don't like seeing their tax dollars go to embryonic stem cell research. I personally don't care for the idea of creating human organisms, concious or not, simply for the gain of others.
    I can more than understand why some people don't like seeing their tax dollars go to kill people in Iraq. I personally don't care for a war of convenience for the idea of distracting the public from a bad economy or to gain oil resources, simply for the gain of others. ( no offense, I am not saying that you think either way, I am just trying to make an off topic point )
  9. Re:It's not surprising t hat World Net Daily by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful
    I have a question out there for the "life begins at conception" crowd, namely, if a fetus is a human being how come it looks like a steamed prawn?"

    I work at a general store, and the odd time I get this person (with his aid) that doesn't have any hands... he doesn't have any eyes... he can't be more than 3 feet tall... he's hunched over almost to his waist... he can't speak... in essence (as you put it), he's a steamed prawn. Is he still a human, even though the kid is hard to look at sometimes?

    What if you had a child that looked like that? Would you banish him to the middle of the desert and let the steamed prawn shrivel up?

  10. USA Constitution and what the government can do by falconwolf · · Score: 2, Insightful

    how the hell does research designed to limit the threat of life-changing illness or injury not fall under the umbrella of national security?

    Can you show me where in the USA Constitution where it says health is the responsibility of the government?

    A) having problems with it in terms of federalist principals

    Seeing as how federalist principals stand for small government not large government it seems you're the one with problems of uderstanding federalism.

    I'd like to see more of MY tax dollars go into medical research and less into military spending.

    I'd prefer to see less of MY tax dollars going to both the military and to medical research.

    if we had spent HALF of the money we have over the last century on military, and put it into medical research, we just might have been able to increase the life expectancy of our people by 5 years (aiding the illimination of cancers would do this, without question), increased the general health of the populace considerably, and recieve the added financial benefits of being the world leaders in the medical field

    And if taxes weren't high to pay for all this by the feds then the private and commercial sectors would have more money to spend on research. And job creation.

    So I seriously don't know how you can get off on a constitutional arguement against scientific research.

    And how can you get off on saying the constitution allows tax spending for scientific research? Though I've looked, read, and reread other than where the constitution allows congress to grant copyrights and patents I see nowhere where it deligates this power. Maybe I missed it so can you point out where it says otherwise? Maybe it's in Article 1 Section 8 - Powers of Congress but I don't see it.

    Consider that Benjemin Franklin was one of our founding fathers and one of the drafters of the consitution. He strongly supported the idea of government funded research.

    And I wonder what Thomas Jefferson, James Jay, and James Madison who all loved small government would say to you? Though a bit later I know what Col. David Crockett would of said, "Not Yours To Give". Heck, I'd like to see NASA privatized as well. What many don't realize is that the USA Constitution is a limit on what government can do, the 10th Admendment even spells it out:

    Amendment X - Powers of the States and People
    The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

    Falcon
  11. Re:Extremely sceptical by matthewr84 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Half of the moderation for this is informative. This frightens me.