French researchers will be able to work with stem cell lines derived from embryos. They can use unused embryos from in vitro fertilization if the couples dont plan to use them, or if the embryos have been diagnosed with a disease or malformation. Here is the Government announcement via Agence de la Biomédicine (in french).
Stem Cells
How stem cells work @ howstuffworks.com
Down to earth explanation of stem cells and stem cell research. Here are some of their charts: Read the article via How Stuff Works here.
Spanish Parliament and embryonic stem cells
I received this interesting note from Spain, Spanish Parliament Lifts Some Restrictions on IVF Treatment, Allows Varying Usage of Excess Embryos [Feb 21, 2006] Spain’s Parliament on Thursday approved a measure that would lift restrictions on the number of embryos that can be implanted into a woman undergoing in vitro fertilization and would allow couples…
Top ten reasons why NOT to preserve your baby’s cord blood.
From one of the few parents who decided to use them… Top ten reasons why NOT to preserve your baby’s cord blood at a private umbilical cord stem cell bank. 10. It’s expensive. You have to pay a subscription fee of about $1,500 and then a yearly maintenance rate of around $100. 9. It sounds…
Stem Cell Research: Science and the Future @ NPR
This is a great program by Terry Gross and Author Christopher Thomas Scott who is the head of Stanford University’s Program on Stem Cells and Society. The title of his book is “Stem Cell Now”. He talks about pre implantation genetic diagnosis, Molly & Adam Nash, etc. The stem cell has become a common denominator…
The more the better
I received this article from Gareth Cook @ the Boston Globe about a way to multiply blood stem cells. The article cites Dr. Eva Guinan (we met her Oct. 30th 2004) who was one of the attending physicians during Andy’s stem cell transplant at Children’s Hospital Boston. This is something that umbilical cord stem cell…
Human/Rabbit, Hybrid stem cells?
I received news from the BBC where they talk about Dr. Sheng Chinese researcher that is using human skin cells placed into rabbit eggs to create ‘human’ embryonic stem cells. Animal eggs ‘to grow stem cells’ Stem cell researchers are looking to use animal eggs as ‘hosts’ to grow human cells. Read the article via…
More about the Cord Blood Stem Cell act of 2005
I received this article from Duke University that describes Dr. Kurtzberg efforts toward more stem cell research. Some sentences from the article that catch my attention are: The use of blood cord stem cells for transplants in the absence of bone marrow donors has become increasingly popular since Kurtzberg performed the first transplant in 1993….
Banco de células madre de cordón umbilical en México
Área de Disposición de Células Progenitoras de Sangre de Cordón Umbilical (CORDMX) Centro Nacional de la Transfusión Sanguínea. Para recibir información mas detallada, el Banco de Sangre ofrece todos los miércoles de 9:00 a 10:00 am platicas informativas en el Departamento de Investigación, Desarrollo y Control de Calidad del Centro Nacional de la Transfusión Sanguínea…
Scientists forced back to the drawing board @ The Guardian
In yesterdays The Guardian in the UK Science editor Robin McKie talks about the cloning scandal and about Hwang’s immense promise and hopes being dashed. By making cloned embryos of adult humans, they would create a source of cells that could replace damaged or lost tissue. The ravaged brains of Alzheimer’s victims would one day…