Using Liquid Crystals to Guide Stem Cells

An anonymous reader writes "Liquid crystals, the same phase-shifting materials used to display information on cell phones, monitors and other electronic equipment, can also be used to control the differentiation of embryonic stem cells, Wisconsin researchers say. By using the crystals to mechanically strain the cells, they can prevent the indiscriminate (and unwanted) differentiation common in embryonic stem cell research and therapy. So when you want a bone cell, say, you don't end up with one from the kidney."

Comments

Lets get this out of they way

[geekoid]

Embryonic stem cells are stems cells that are going to waste anyways. Left over from in vitro fertilization.
They are from the from the blastocyst stage,and about 128 cells.

also:
http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/scireport/chapter2.a sp

Re:Lets get this out of they way

[dancpsu]

First Verse in context:

The LORD said:
I will turn against any of my people who eat blood. This also includes any foreigners living among you. Life is in the blood, and I have given you the blood of animals to sacrifice in place of your own. That's also why I have forbidden you to eat blood. Even if you should hunt and kill a bird or an animal, you must drain out the blood and cover it with soil.

It's kind of hard to interpret both what it meant to the ancient Hebrew when it says "I will turn against...". Probably in this context it was something to do with a person will fall to ill health by consuming blood. In the "Life is in the blood" section it goes on to reference the animal sacrifice religious practice of the time. It was important in this tradition to set apart things that were at all unclean, and similarly set apart things that were "holy". The blood here would qualify as being holy all the way back to Abraham when he cut animals in half to enter into a contract with God.

Second in context:

Jesus answered:
I tell you for certain that you won't live unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man. But if you do eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will have eternal life, and I will raise you to life on the last day. My flesh is the true food, and my blood is the true drink. If you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you are one with me, and I am one with you.

To put this in a little more context, this was the middle of the Passover Seder, probably the second or third drinks of wine. This is the time where the Jewish people were supposed to remember the redemption of Moses and in particular the Passover Lamb (as in the Ten Commandments movie). Jesus, by placing himself in this section of the ritual was taking the place of the sacrificial animal as mentioned in the first verse. Therefore establishing himself as the sacrifice in place of the animal. (And literally being killed the next day on the cross)

Re:Lets get this out of they way

[sqrt7744]

Well, no, the catholic church teaches that life begins at the moment of conception, not "when blood begins to flow". Where did you come up with that??

Re:Lets get this out of they way

[Rolgar]

Incorrect, according to both Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, the host bread and wine becomes the body and blood of Christ spiritually and physically in all regards except in appearance. The distinction that the matter can look like wine and bread and physically be flesh and blood is based upon the philosophical work of the Aristotle.

God has proven the point on a few occasions, as the appearance has changed as well, and the priest was left holding a piece of flesh in his hand and a chalace of blood with testable DNA on the altar. Some instances of this can be found at http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/a3.htm l

Much hype about nothing. Here is why.

[Anonymous Coward]

I hope the following make it clear that stem cell research of any form does NOT need, or involve, the destruction of an embryo. Current hype is used specifically to harvest the votes of well-meaning, but maleducated populace.

IMACB (I Am A Cell Biologist), and I suggest you also look some of this up in your college-level bio text, or talk to a bio prof, they will love it:

1) Absolute majority of stem cells are not people, and cannot be grown into them.
2) The only stem cells that can be grown into a human being are the omnipotent cells created within the first 2-3 cell divisions past the fertilization.
3) Any cell harvested after the 8-cell stage becomes pluri-potent, and can grow into adult human tissue, but will NOT form some of the embryonic tissues, such as placenta, under any condition (no placenta-> no new human possible).
4) Stem cells harvested from tissues of adults are called adult stem cells (d'oh); these are multi-potent, meaning they can only make some, but not all, of the tissues of an adult. E.g. bone marrow stem cells will only make blood cells.
5) Under some conditions, adult SCs of one tissue type may be coaxed into turning into another developmentally related tissue type (e.g. skin SCs may be grown into neurons). Like cells in 3), these will never directly grow into another human.

In terms of usefulness:
1) Adult stem cells are hardest to control, and are least promising for research, but may help combat some types of cancer.
2) Pluripotent stem cells are easiest to manipulate and will have lots of applications in geriatrics, damage reconstruction, cancer, AIDS, etc. People I personally know have shown that these may be used to treat Parkinson's (in rats), as well as replace ischemia-induced brain damage (a group rebuilt a damaged brain in mice); clearly there are lots more things going on, but application to humans will require volunteers, changes in law, and massive infusions of cash.
Most importantly, acquisition of these cells does NOT require the destruction of embryos. One could harvest these cells, and the embryo will (to the best of our knowledge) develop normally. Vital extraction is more expensive, however, and does carry some risk to the embryo. Additionally, using such extracted cells will not destroy a human life, since a human cannot be grown from such cells, under any conditions.

3) Cells from before the 8-cell stage of embryo developments are as powerful as cells in 2), but are harder to control. While these may also be harvested with little side effects (can take one for research, leave 7, and these 7 will still grow into a normal baby), the one cell we take out can also be grown into a baby, hence some might call it "destroying life", but common sense here suggests the original embryo will survive, so "borrowing" that one cell is not killing life.

Bottom line? Stem cells do not need to involve destruction of embryos. We have the technology to only "borrow" some of the cells from a human embryo, and let it develop normally. The reason surplus embryos (from in vitro fertilization treatments and such) are currently destroyed after harvesting is because whoever donates those embryos does NOT want them back. It is trivial to just "borrow" a few cells and give back the embryos to implant.

Once again, stem cells !=destruction of life.