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Embryonic Stem Cell Research Yields Major Success

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--- Quote ---The president made his position clear weeks ago when he said the legislation "crosses a moral line that I and many others find troubling."
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We are talking about embryos that are already queud in for being wasted, then what does he calls what he is doing in Iraq! They are living breathing people!

:mad

Andy Battaglia:
Pandering politicians prevent people's progress.

The US spends hundreds of billions of dollars every year on the military. Tens of thousands of people are dying because of a war that those politicians created. The US defense budget for 2007 is over $500 billion. Can we at least look at the idea of shifting some of that money into projects that would keep people alive instead of killing them? Imagine what only 10% of that money could do to advance medical research and treatments.

Andy Battaglia:
More news on advancements in stem cell technology as it relates to creating red blood cells.

http://www.advancedcell.com/press-release/advanced-cell-technologys-study-published-in-leading-hematology-journal


--- Quote ---Advanced Cell Technologys Study Published in Leading Hematology Journal
Thursday December 4, 7:57 am ET

WORCESTER, Mass.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (OTCBB: ACTC.PK – News), announced today that their study investigating the feasibility of producing functional, oxygen-carrying red blood cells (RBCs) from mature human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) has been formally published in the print version of the prestigious medical journal Blood – the leading publication in the field of hematology. The study,which was previously only available in the online edition of the Journal, includes commentary from Dr. Eric Bouhassira of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, a leading researcher in the field of hematology.
“This is a major milestone for embryonic stem cell development,” said William Caldwell, CEO and Chairman of ACTC. “These cells were originally derived from hESC’s that were developed using ACT’s single blastomere technique. The company was the first to derive hemangioblast from hESC’s, a result which has yet to be replicated outside of the ACT laboratories. The study shows that ACT can produce these cells in quantity, which as Dr. Bouhassira states in his commentary, is a critical step towards being able to produce a donor-less source of blood for transfusion in the future.”

The study also demonstrated that the process produces viable RBCs with the functional properties of their naturally occurring counterparts, demonstrating that the created cells can be enucleated in vitro. “We show that up to 65% of the blood cells underwent multiple maturation events that resulted in the extrusion of the nucleus,” stated Shi-Jiang Lu, Ph.D., Director of Differentiation for Allied Cell Technology, the Company’s recently announced joint venture with CHA Biotech Co. Ltd. and first author of the paper. “They formed enucleated erythrocytes with a diameter of 6-8 μm, which is similar to normal red blood cells. We also showed that the cells could express adult β-globin and respond normally to biochemical changes.”

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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/british-scientists-to-create-synthetic-blood-1651715.html


--- Quote ---British scientists to create 'synthetic' blood
Human embryos will be used to make an unlimited supply for infection-free transfusions

By Steve Connor, Science Editor
Monday, 23 March 2009SHAREPRINT ARTICLE EMAIL ARTICLE TEXT SIZE NORMALLARGEEXTRA LARGE
Scientists in Britain plan to become the first in the world to produce unlimited amounts of synthetic human blood from embryonic stem cells for emergency infection-free transfusions.

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A major research project is to be announced this week that will culminate in three years with the first transfusions into human volunteers of "synthetic" blood made from the stem cells of spare IVF embryos. It could help to save the lives of anyone from victims of traffic accidents to soldiers on a battlefield by revolutionising the vital blood transfusion services, which have to rely on a network of human donors to provide a constant supply of fresh blood.

The multimillion-pound deal involving NHS Blood and Transplant, the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service and the Wellcome Trust, the world's biggest medical research charity, means Britain will take centre stage in the global race to develop blood made from embryonic stem cells. The researchers will test human embryos left over from IVF treatment to find those that are genetically programmed to develop into the "O-negative" blood group, which is the universal donor group whose blood can be transfused into anyone without fear of tissue rejection.

This blood group is relatively rare, applicable to about 7 per cent of the population, but it could be produced in unlimited quantities from embryonic stem cells because of their ability to multiply indefinitely in the laboratory.

The aim is to stimulate embryonic stem cells to develop into mature, oxygen-carrying red blood cells for emergency transfusions. Such blood would have the benefit of not being at risk of being infected with viruses such as HIV and hepatitis, or the human form of "mad cow" disease. The military in particular needs a constant supply of fresh, universal donor blood for battlefield situations when normal supplies from donors can quickly run out.

But developing blood made from the cells of spare IVF embryos will raise difficult ethical issues for people not happy with the idea of destroying embryos to create stem cells. It also raises the intriguing philosophical question of whether the synthetic blood will have come from someone who never existed. In theory, just one embryo could meet the nation's needs.

The Wellcome Trust is believed to have promised £3m towards the cost of the project, with further funding coming from the blood transfusion services of Scotland, and England and Wales. The Irish government is also understood to be involved. A spokesman for the Wellcome Trust said complicated legal issues were still being ironed out between all the parties involved but that an announcement is likely to be made in the coming week.

The project will be led by Professor Marc Turner, of Edinburgh University, the director of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service. Professor Turner has been involved in studies investigating how to ensure donated blood is free of the infectious agent behind variant CJD, the human form of "mad cow" disease. Several vCJD patients are thought to have contracted the disease by blood transfusions.

Professor Turner was unavailable for comment but a spokeswoman for the National Blood Service for England and North Wales confirmed that negotiations on the joint research project were at an advanced stage and that legal, rather than scientific, issues were holding up the announcement.

The multi-centre collaboration is also understood to involve scientists at the Medical Research Council's Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, and Roslin Cells, a spin-off company that has emerged out of the Roslin Institute, where Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1996.

Scientists in other countries, notably Sweden, France and Australia, are also known to be working on the development of synthetic blood from embryonic stem cells. And last year, a team from a US biotechnology company, Advanced Cell Technology, announced that it has been able to produce billions of functioning red blood cells from embryonic stem cells. But the US work had been held up because of funding problems dating back to the ban on embryonic stem cell work under the Bush administration. President Barack Obama has since reversed that policy.

In Britain, the project was held up because of the difficulty of finding funding for "translational" research that attempts to take scientific studies in the laboratory into the earliest stages of commercial development. This problem has now been overcome.
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Although, as far as I know, there is no current research into a cure for thalassemia using stem cells, there is much research into using stem cells to create red blood cells. This would completely eliminate antibody reactions, which are a major cause of problems in thalassemics, leading to more frequent transfusions and iron overload. These are major breakthroughs and the lifting of the ban on funding of embryonic stem cell research in the US will help to speed up this research.

Sharmin:
Thanks Andy,

This is great to see.  I wish that there were studies relating to a cure for thal - but this research is very applicable to thals as well.  Antibody's have posed so much trouble for us - I hope that this research will help us and that it will help others avoid some of the problems that we have encountered.    Also, little A is O negative and some days it is a nightmare finding a donor who is O neg and one that is matched for every antigen. 

I am so glad that Obama is encouraing this type of research and that he encourages investment in education, development and research.  Bill Gates also says that a steps toward a healthier economy should would include medical research and gene therapy (I was so happy to hear him say that!!). 

Thanks again Andy,

Sharmin

Sharmin:
Andy,

I remember talks about synthetic blood, or some type of blood product that would survive and function in the body for prolonged periods of time.  Has anyone heard any updates on that research?


Sharmin

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