When the first heart transplant was carried out it was a startling event. But fantastic as it was, the poor patient had to exist on immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of his life. Okay, he was still alive; but his immune system was severely compromised, making it difficult for him to cope with any infections.

In the meantime, more and more body parts have been produced using a patient’s own tissue, thus negating the need for immunosuppressant drugs.

Several wind pipes are now being grown from scratch and transplanted into patients using their own stem cells. These have produced dramatic improvements in health without any need for drugs to suppress the immune system. Similarly, the bladder and urethra have been grown using stem cells and transplanted into patient successfully.

Aubrey De Grey, anti-ageing specialist, recently commented: “We are seeing the emergence of a new area of medicine where the diseases of ageing can be blocked or even reversed. These therapies are mostly in research now but eventually they will be commonplace.”

Even a decade ago, these procedures were regarded as on the very margins of research. They are now rapidly becoming mainstream. Regenerating more complex organs is going to take longer – but they will be developed, it’s just a matter of time.

Hearts, kidneys and livers will be able to be grown, sooner than we think. And knees and hips will be regrown by using stem cell therapy. Even clinical trials for regeneration of spinal cells are under way.

Related articles

• American Receives Stem-Cell Built Trachea In Sweden (pinkbananaworld.com)

Transplants Extend Human Lives is a post from: Living To 150

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1. Incredible! The First Synthetic Windpipe
2. Trial Of Heart Attack Stem Cell Treatment
3. Stem Cells To Treat Burns

Stem Cell (Wikipedia Image)

Embryonic stem cells are to be used to treat blindness in the first trial of its kind outside the United States. The trial, taking place at Moorfields Hospital in London, will treat sufferers from a disease causing blindness at a relatively young age – Stargardt’s disease. The findings from the trial will have wider application, however, including age-related macular degeneration.

The American company Advanced Cell Technology will be running the trial at Moorfields. ACT is also running a trial in its home city of Massachusetts, and says that this placement of the trial in the UK confirms the U.K.’s place as the leading country in Europe for stem cell development.

Moorfields Hospital are also developing their own stem cell treatment for macular degeneration using different methodology. All these studies being run will produce information which will help the others.

This new study will proceed slowly, treating perhaps a dozen patients over 1 to 2 years.

This trial of the stem cell treatment for blindness holds huge help for those who sight is threatened now, or will be in the future.

Related articles

• Stem Cells in Ophthalmology Update 10: ACT Expands Trials for Embryonic Stem Cells for Stargardt’s to the UK (irvaronsjournal.blogspot.com)
• Trial begins into stem cell treatment for sight loss (telegraph.co.uk)
• Embryonic Stem Cell Treatment in Europe Begins to Improve, Halt or Reverse Blindness From Macular Dystrophy (ducknetweb.blogspot.com)

Stem Cell Trial To Help Blind is a post from: Living To 150

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1. Trial Of Heart Attack Stem Cell Treatment
2. More “Stem Cell Madness”
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Trial Of Heart Attack Stem Cell Treatment (Wikipedia)

Stem cells are being tested to improve the success rate of certain heart attack treatments.

If a blocked artery causes a heart attack, a common treatment is to insert a stent – a hollow tube – into the artery to re-enable the blood flow. The problem is that the insertion of the stent can cause tissue damage. By introducing large numbers of stem cells to the area at the same time it is expected that the healing process will be faster and better.

The difference with this trial is that when the stem cells are needed there is no time to grow the patient’s own stem cells – to avoid rejection by the immune system. Australian company Mesoblast has overcome that problem by growing a specific kind of stem cell found in bone marrow which does not trigger an immune response. In other words, they can be introduced into anyone’s body without fear of rejection.

These stem cells are also not embryonic stem cells which have caused controversy in the past. They are capable of being grown en masse and kept in storage for when they are needed.

The study will involve 225 patients who have suffered severe heart attacks in the UK, Netherlands and Belgium. Initial results are expected after 12 months. There appears to be a very good chance that this use of the specialised stem cells will significantly improve the recovery from the operation as well as the survival rate.

Related articles

• Europe Gives Mesoblast Approval for Clinical Trials of “Off the Shelf” Stem Cell Treatments for Major Heart Attack Victims (ducknetweb.blogspot.com)
• Stem cell trial for heart failure approved (telegraph.co.uk)
• Mesoblast Receives Clearance To Begin First European Trial Of Allogeneic Or ‘Off-The-Shelf’ Stem Cell Treatment For Heart Attacks (medicalnewstoday.com)

Trial Of Heart Attack Stem Cell Treatment is a post from: Living To 150

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In 2008, a woman in Italy with a windpipe ravaged by tuberculosis received a windpipe transplant. A donor windpipe was stripped of all cells, leaving just the cartilaginous framework, then the woman’s own stem cells were introduced to produce a complete windpipe.

The transplant was a success.

Then, in 2010, a child with a congenitally narrowed windpipe had the donor cartilage transplanted into his body along with a cocktail of growth factors plus his own stem cells. When it had grown, the new windpipe was swapped for the old one – and the child, at last, could breath properly.

Synthetic Windpipe

Now, in a further development, the donor is no longer needed. A completely synthetic windpipe has been grown at University College, London, exactly the same shape and size as a patient’s own, and seeded with stem cells. The whole growth process took around a week. The completely synthetic windpipe was then transplanted into the patient.

Being synthetic, no donor is needed and so the risk of rejection – a big problem with donor transplants – is zero. Because of this rejection problem a patient with a donated organ has to have their immune system heavily suppressed, increasing the chance of an life-threatening infection taking hold. In other words, with a synthetic transplant plus their own stem cells, patients will simply live longer.

A Massive Medical Breakthrough

This is a huge breakthrough. It is now only a matter of time before a large number of body parts will be able to be produced on request.

Does this seem just a little grotesque? In a sense, perhaps. But if you needed a replacement organ in a hurry I know most of us would be pleased one could be made this way.

Related articles

• Man Gets Windpipe Made From Stem Cells (abcnews.go.com)
• First transplant of a fully synthetic organ carried out (telegraph.co.uk)

Incredible! The First Synthetic Windpipe is a post from: Living To 150

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Following my report of the dilemma in the EU over stem cells, a typical bureaucratic “fluff” is the outcome.

Countries of the EU (Wikipedia)

Originally, a German court could not decide whether a researcher was permitted to patent a method of turning embryonic stem cells in to nerve cells to treat nerve degeneration diseases. So, they bounced it over to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

The way things work there, the Advocate General give a ‘preliminary decision’, which is more often than not followed by the European Court. The Advocate General indicated that the patent should not be allowed, on moral grounds.

The repercussions of that are that expensive research will simply not be done unless the companies involved have a chance of getting their money back – via the patent. They would simply transfer outside the EU.

Within the EU, opinion on this type of embryonic stem cell research is pretty evenly divided: Finland, Greece, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK permit it, while Austria, Denmark, France, Germany and Ireland do not.

In the event, it seems that the ECJ will dither: and say neither yes or no. The effect of this is that the research can continue within the EU, but then be patented and manufactured elsewhere, then re-imported back: protection intact.

In fact, in this rapidly developing field, this situation will be somewhat academic in a few years. Cells other than embryonic stem cells are more and more able to be persuaded to change into any cells required – removing the concerns of cells originally derived from embryonic material.

However, this type of question mark over research only serves to slow down progress in a field – stem cell research – which will save millions of lives over the coming generation or two.

Stem Cell Research In The EU – An Old-School “Fluff” is a post from: Living To 150

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The European Court of Justice’s advocate general has said all patents on embryonic stem cell-related technologies should be banned on moral grounds. Opponents, including today’s Financial Times leader (9th May 2011) say: “complete tosh”.

This means that no company could precede with research in the EU if they could not get a patent – and so have the chance of getting their money back from what would be an expensive research program.

Leading stem cell scientists said in a letter that a negative ruling could spell disaster for drug firms seeking treatments for conditions which include such medical disasters as blindness and spinal chord injuries.

“If the ECJ was to follow this opinion, the reality is that all patents in Europe that relate to human embryonic stem cells will be eliminated,” was the opinion of one Austin Smith of the Centre for Stem Cell Research in Cambridge, one of those who signed the letter.

It’s simple: research firms would desert Europe and go to the Far East and California – the cutting edge of stem cell research.

We have so much to gain from stem cell research – in terms of reducing suffering. Let’s hope the European Court see sense. They might.

Added 25/5/2011: UPDATE ON THE ACJ DECISION (Well, not so much a decision, more of an evasion )

Related articles

• Ban on stem-cell patents ‘wrong’ (bbc.co.uk)
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• Stem cell research threatened by EU court (telegraph.co.uk)

More “Stem Cell Madness” is a post from: Living To 150

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Molly Stevens, Biomaterials Professor at Imperial College London, is a prime mover in the development of stem cell technology to create bone.

A £4,000,000 grant has recently been awarded to Imperial to fund research into bone reconstruction. Over the next five years, scientists at Imperial College will combine their expertise in skeletal stem cells and the ‘scaffolds’ they require, to identify the conditions that will lead to tissue regeneration and skeletal repairs.

Professor Stevens herself says she can see a time when the regrowth of joints will be possible.

That is stunning, considering the trauma involved in replacing a hip or a knee joints. Not to mention that the lifetime of such joints is limited.

Currently, even a fairly simple tendon repair to the knee – for example, a ripped tendon due to a sports injury – can take a two-hour operation to fix and cost many thousands of pounds in total. This is quite apart from the recovery time for the patient and the cost of their removal from the work pool, or the resulting difficulties of performing family or other daily tasks.

The use of stem cells will have dramatically changed medicine in 10 years time; and many aspects of medicine will be unrecognisable in 20 years time thanks to this technology.

Story – Wired Magazine:

http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2010/11/start/she-grows-bones

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• Stem Cell Research (politics.ie)

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Image via Wikipedia

Stem cells are being used to heal skin which has been burned, in record time.

Skin grafts take weeks to carry out, and the healing produces – often extensive – scarring.

The new process uses stem cells from the victim to make a spray. This is sprayed on to the damaged skin and the body quickly uses the stem cells supplied to create new skin.

The whole procedure takes only a couple of hours, and the healing takes place in a few days. Scar tissue is greatly reduced.

This is a very exciting discovery – yet another one based on stem cells – which has the potential to revolutionise one whole area of medicine. Burns cause such awful damage and disfigurement, that this use of stem cells is extremely welcome.

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• First We Had Spray On Stem Cells and Now The Stem Cell Skin Gun for Wound Care Speeds Healing- Regenerative Medicine (ducknetweb.blogspot.com)
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A new European stem cell trial starts this month. It is aimed at heart attack patients.

It has long been known that packing a person’s fat around damaged areas during an operation stimulates healing. It is now realised that this is related to the fact that fat contains many time more stem cells than bone marrow does.

In this trial a person’s fat cells will be harvested and packed around the damaged heart tissue. It is hoped that the heart will use the stem cells contained within the fat to repair some of the damage caused.

In time this process, or a variation of it will hugely reduce the additional damage which follows a heart attack, and help to repair some of the damage already caused too.

Clearly, it will not be long before stem cells are used regularly in this type of way to enhance healing dramatically.

Full article:

Technology review

Related article for Stem Cells and Heart Attack

• Man’s heart saved by his own stem cells (abclocal.go.com)

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Image via Wikipedia

The use of stem cells for stroke and other serious diseases has massive potential. In the UK, the company ReNeuron has proceeded to human clinical trials for treating ischaemic stroke – the most common type – with stem cells.

In this treatment, a stroke patient receives local anaesthetic and stem cells are injected through a tiny tube into the area of the brain affected by the stroke. In other words, the area with dead and damaged cells.

In the trial a total of twelve patients will be treated. In December 2010 the first patient to receive treatment passed 28 days without a problem, and ReNeuron were given the go-ahead to treat the other 2 patients in the first cohort. In due course the remaining 9 will receive treatment in the same way – assuming results on the other 3 continuing to be problem-free.

A successful result to this trial for stroke patients will give a huge boost to the company and to UK stem cell research in general.

Use of stem cells has massive potential. The public are wary about the implications for this type of research right now. But this concern is misplaced. In 10-20 years we will all be wondering why is took so long to get this type of therapy in mainstream use, when we see the huge amount of pain and suffering it can avoid.

ReNeuron are based in Guildford, Surrey.

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This is an incredible transplant story.
Two years ago an Italian woman had part of her windpipe replaced using a transplant plus her own stem cells, after the windpipe had been eaten away by tuberculosis.
Last week a much more advanced operation was carried out on a 10-year old boy who had a congenitally narrowed windpipe; a new windpipe was grown for him – inside his own body.
The boy was having difficulties after a stent – a metal tube – was starting to malfunction. Once the new windpipe was introduced, the boy could already breath more easily than he ever had after just a few days.
How does it work? At present, a donor was needed for the ‘scaffolding’ of the windpipe. All the donor tissue is removed from the cartilaginous framework so that there is no rejection by the recipient. The windpipe was then transplanted together with a cocktail of ‘growth factors’ as well as about 30ml of the boys own stem cells – previously harvested. The body does the rest.
This is a very positve use of stem cells – and this boy and his family must be extremely happy.

BBC News – Windpipe transplant success in UK child

stem cells, windpipe, transplant

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The concerns with stem cell research came about mainly for ethical and religious reasons. These have dampened down lately. President Obama’s policy change towards federal funding of stem cell research – effectively banned by his predecessor – has certainly stimulated interest in the field.

But one bright light on the horizon is the development of new methods of generating stem cells. These will not be taken from embryos.

The prime method is the use of so called ‘IPS’ cells – or induced pluripotent stem cells.

These were first produced in Japan in 2007. The ‘magical’ thing about them is that they are made by taking cells which are already specialized and turning back the clock – turning them into an embyonic state. This is done by adding some chemicals – such as genes – to them.

For many of the religious this is completely acceptable to their faith; and scientists are happy too – because they can always use a person’s own cells to make their new organ or whatever – and there will therefore be no immune system rejection of the new tissues.

Research into IPS cells is still at an early stage, compared to embryonic stem cells; so embryonic stem cell work will continue for now. But once IPS cells are better understood, their use will surely predominate if not take over.

New Stem Cell Methods is a post from: Living To 150

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Continuing on from the last post praising California for voting through $3bn of research money for stem cells, the progress in stem cell research has been stunning.

The first embryonic stem cells were extracted from human embryos only ten years ago. Already, Geron, a pioneer in stem cell work, has developed its research fast enough to be embarking on a trial of its latest treatment; treating patients with recently damaged spinal cords with stem cells. To carry out the development and get the approvals needed this progress is truly spectacular.

Just behind this trial is another in London for a stem cell treatment for macular degeneration – which currently leads to blindness. Approval for the trial is expected in two years.

Widespread commerial application of stem cell research will take, realistically, 20 years says a pioneer in the field. That is still very quick in terms of medical research.

California – Stem Cell Research is a post from: Living To 150

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Thanks to the residents of California, stem cell research has received a huge boost.

Stem cell research is a cornerstone of the huge leap forward we will make in medicine over the next 30 years. We have already seen fantastic advances harnessed to treat broken backs, damaged vision, deafness, heart disease and advanced TB. All these would have been hopeless cases before stem cells were used in research.

These advances are but a small hint of what is to come.

Within a generation, growing major organs from our own stem cells will be routine. These ‘replacement parts’ will not be rejected as ‘not us’ by our immune systems. This means a person will not need to live on immuno-suppressant drugs for the rest of their lives following a transplant.

This does not mean a plantet of ‘walking wounded’. A healthy person who has to have a transplant – perhaps for genetic causes – will again become a healthy person. Perhaps even healthier.

Healing previously impossible ailments will also become routine – as with the spinal cord repairs which are now undergoing trials.

A large part of the progress in stem cell research has been thanks to the Californian people voting in a referendum to fund stem cell research. The state is unable to overturn this vote, so the bad economic situation has not affected the funding.

The referendum was in 2004, following which the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) was established. $1bn (£600m) has been committed to research, building labs and setting up infrastructure.

The Californian stem cell research programme is the biggest in the world, follow by New York’s programme.

California Boosts Stem Cell Research is a post from: Living To 150

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In June this year, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine approved $60m worth of funding to fund 15 grants aimed at moving some of the stunning results from stem cells from the lab to clinical practice.

The pace of progress with stem cell research means that results can progress from project conception to clinic use in ten years – a very rapid time compared to conventional research.

These grants mean that we will be able to take advantage of this exciting technology that much faster.

California funds the biggest stem cell research programme in the world. This is thanks to Californian residents who voted the measure through in a referendum.

$60m Funding for Stem Cell Research is a post from: Living To 150

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Millions of people facing blindness because of AMD (age-related macular degeneration) will receive respite thanks to UK stem cell research. The collaboration between world-famous Moorfields Eye Hospital and University College, both London based, will see a 45 minutes operation which is expected to enable surgeons to ‘patch ‘ the damage caused by the disease.

The treatment has a good chance of being as successful and common place as cataract surgery by around 2015.

In the UK about 25% of the population over 65 are affected by AMD, so this treatment will benefit many people. About half a million suffer from AMD at the moment in the UK.

Stem Cell Ethics Question

The treatment is controversial because it used embryonic stem cells – raising the questions of stem cell ethics. However, the huge benefits may convince all but the strongest opponents of embryonic stem cell research that the benefits are worth it.

Furthermore, as research methods become more sophisticated, it will be possible to carry out research like this using types of stem cells other than embryonic ones.

Story: Daily Express offline edition

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Alternative HealthZine reports that stem cells will soon be used to cure deafness.

Scientists at Sheffield University are on the way to creating the most important hearing cells – the hair cells which detect sound – from a patient’s own stem cells.

Once this has been done – in just a few years – many cases of hearing will be curable.

Story: Hearing Loss Breakthrough

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A girl who had in the UK who had a third of her heart removed as a baby has made a full recovery.

Now 10 years old, a MRI scan can not even detect scar tissue anywhere on the heart.

Kirsty Collier was born with abnormal blood vessels which caused her serious heart problems when she was 4 months old. During a heart bypass operation, during which the heart is stopped, the surgeon was unable to restart her heart. Her parents were told there was little hope.

Having nearly given up hope the surgeon removed a huge piece of heart muscle which he thought was preventing the heart from starting. After sewing up the remaining heart tissue, the heart did, remarkably, start.

Stem Cells Provide Complete Repair

Even more remarkably, thanks to an abundance of stem cells in one so young, the whole heart has since completely repaired itself – restoring the muscle which was removed.

Kirsty is now completely fit and well.

Stem Cell Promise Tremendous Benefits

With the wider use and acceptance of stem cells which will occur over the next 10-20 years, ‘miracle cures’ such as this one will become commonplace for people of all ages.

Stem Cells & the Heart is a post from: Living To 150

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The issue of stem cell ethics has once more arisen; this time related to blood transfusions.

Britain is a leading nation in stem cell research, mainly because America was held back until recently by ex-President Bush’s funding restrictions, since reversed by President Obama.

New UK research now plans to have infection-free blood available for infusions within 3 years – synthesised from embryonic stem cells.

Blood Transfusion Safety

Blood from donors has the disadvantage of occasional contamination. The worst case of this was probably the large number of haemophiliacs – who need regular transfusions – being infected with HIV before it’s transmission through blood was fully identified.

In addition, it is possible to transmit hepatitis through the blood, as well as variant CJD the human form of BSE or "mad cow disease".

Blood Transfusion Safety Shortage

The blood produced would be from the group O-Rhesus negative – the one blood type, which is accepted by everyone. It would be  a huge advantage to have large quantities of this type of blood available.

This would make it much easier to deal with emergencies – not least in battlefield situations, when blood supplies easily run out.

Joint funding

The research will be funded by the NHS, the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service and the Wellcome Trust - the medical research charity.

Now the ban on federal funding for research has been overturned in America it is expected that the Americans will resume their own research in this area.

Ethics Issue

Ethically there will be objections to the use of embryonic stem cells. Hopefully these will be overcome. The massive benefit of having unlimited, safe blood for transfusions must outweigh moral considerations of using spare embryos left over from IVF treatment, for example.

It’s not as if huge numbers of cells will be needed; theoretically, at least, only one cell will fulfil all our needs.

Safe Blood

If we can get beyond the ethics issue, this will be a great relief to know that blood received from transfusion scan be 100% guaranteed to be free of infection – and available in sufficient quantity.

Read more

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Stem cell ethics have started to become easier after scientists have produced the first pluripotent cell from normal skin cells. A pluripotent cell is one which can differentiate into any type of body cell.

Previously, the only pluripotents cells were those from embryos, or from the umbilical cord of the newborn.

Embryonic Research Still Necessary

For now, embryonic stem cell research will still be necessary; for example, it was only through the use of embryonic stem cells that this new method was able to be developed. However, in the future we can foresee that pluripotent stem cells will be capable of being produced from normal cells.

Genetic Engineering Arguments Remain

This easing of some ethical considerations do not rebut all genetic engineering arguments, though. Genetic engineering advantages will be many; but with them come other issues; not least, that an ordinary cell will also be able to be turned into an embryo.

This is a moral issue which we must face as, slowly but surely, we learn to use stem cells to conquer much of the suffering which degenerative diseases cause.

Stem Cell Ethics Ease… A Little is a post from: Living To 150

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