“Latest Stem Cells News”

President Obama lifted restrictions on funding for human embryonic stem cell research this morning and issued a presidential memorandum aimed at insulating scientific decisions across the federal government from political influence.

Obama took care to emphasize that the order would not “open the door” to allow human cloning, which he said is “dangerous, profoundly wrong and has no place in our society, or any society.” But the president said stem cell research has enormous potential to further understanding and treatment of many devastating diseases and conditions. America, he said, should play a leading role in exploring the stem-cell research frontier.

David Scadden, M.D., co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Insitute, was online Monday, March 9, at 2:30 p.m. ET to discuss what today’s executive order means to the scientific, medical and research communities, and ultimately to the individual…

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Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday admonished visiting US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Catholic who advocates abortion rights, that “all Catholics” should uphold the Church’s teachings on life.
Benedict “took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church’s consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death,” the Vatican said in a statement.

These “enjoin all Catholics, and especially legislators, jurists as well as those responsible for the common good of society to work in cooperation with all men and women of good will in creating a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development,” the statement said.

Pelosi, the highest-ranking US official to see the pope since President Barack Obama took office last month, describes herself as an “ardent” Catholic while advocating reproductive rights.
The top lawmaker drew fire from the US Catholic Church last August after she appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” when, responding to a question about when human life begins from anchor Tom Brokaw, she said: “The doctors of the Church have not been able to make that definition… We don’t know.”

She added: “The point is, is that it shouldn’t have an impact on the woman’s right to choose.”
Cardinal Edward Egan of New York expressed “shock” over the comments, saying, “What the speaker had to say about theologians and their positions regarding abortion was not only misinformed; it was also, and especially, utterly incredible in this day and age.”

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“They call it the ‘global gag rule’ because it forbids federal funding to every international group of family planning which even simply speak about abortion as theoretical possibility.
Officially known as “mexico City Policy”, it has been inserted by Ronald Reagan in 1984 (do you remembe the novel?). Bill Clinton did cancel it on 1993, then George W. Bush made it re-born in 2001, and new President Barack Obama cancelled it again by an executive order.
From now on the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) could restore on its list of payees all the world wide organizations which give informations and suggestions about abortion as a solution.

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After seeing the fastest development worldwide in stem cell research during the past 10 years, China is “on the verge of achieving a breakthrough”, says a top scientist in the field.
Zhou Qi, chief scientist with the stem cell research project at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), spoke after the academy chose his area of expertise for significant attention.

He said Chinese scientists are expecting a major scientific breakthrough to be made within the next decade.
“We are now close to the day when we will be able to hail a breakthrough in this important technology,” Zhou told China Daily during an exclusive interview.

He said China has already succeeded in creating a “stem cell line up to clinical standards“, which signifies a major stride toward clinical treatment.
“China needs five to 10 years to shift from basic research to clinical application and another 10 years to realize large-scale clinical application,” he said.

“If there are any science projects that could win China a Nobel Prize during the next 10 years, the most likely candidate is its stem cell research.”
Going forward, the priority will be to focus on stem cell regulation, core mechanisms for stem-cell therapies and standardized applications of stem cells, Zhou said.

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A year after President Barack Obama issued a landmark executive order to remove eight years of limitations on U.S. federal funding of stem cell research, the WiCell Research Institute has expanded the number of cell lines available through its WISC Bank (Wisconsin International Stem Cell) to 33.

WiCell, host of the former National Stem Cell Bank (NSCB) for five years under a contract from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has transitioned the distribution of all of the 20 human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines formerly available through the NSCB to its own stem cell bank. The bank also continues to carry its previously banked seven induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell lines and six genetically modified hES cell lines.

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Kidney stem cells, according to some experts, could be able to repair kidney damage if used properly. The first researchers to identify the cells were scientists at the University of Florence, who published an article recently in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. Giuseppe Remuzzi, the head of the Nephrology and Dialysis division of the United Hospitals of Bergamo recently spoke about their potential in Milan at the World Nephrology Congress.

“The truth about stem cells,” explained the expert, “ is what US President Barack Obama pointed out when he announced the repeal of laws banning the federal financing of embryonic stem cell studies. They are promising, but there is still a lot of work to do. Currently, these cells treat very few diseases. We must study them and compare the various types.”

Many scientists, continued Remuzzi, believe in them, although the results are few and mostly have been obtained in vitro. “Everyone’s dream is to repair organs with stem cells.” There are good possibilities for kidneys, he added. “Since stem cells could be responsible for a regeneration process observed in animals treated with Ace-inhibitor drugs, which delay the progression of kidney diseases. The idea is that these cells have an innate ability to repair damages, which, through the use of drugs, can be directed and sustained, with good results.”

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