Stem cell therapy is emerging as a promising form of treatment for a number of conditions, from joint and spinal disc degeneration to spinal cord injuries.
In the procedure, stem cells, which are "blank slate" cells that can develop into specialized cells depending on where they are transplanted, are injected into the body to regenerate damaged tissues.
The road from animal to human trials into the effectiveness and safety of stem cell therapy is a long one.
Recently, human studies into the efficacy of the therapy in degenerative disc conditions were given the green light.
However, human trials into other applications are some years away.
Researchers who recently conducted a mouse study into the therapy's ability to replace damaged motor neurons that lead to muscle deactivation hope that the results of their study add to a body of research that makes human studies possible within the next five years.
Patients with either spinal cord injury or motor neuron disease often lose the ability to move parts of their body due to damaged or destroyed motor neurons, which are responsible for transmitting motor signals from the brain to muscles in the body.
The procedure implemented by the researchers was rather complicated.
They derived motor neurons from embryonic stem cells and equipped them with a survival gene, which allows the cells to connect with muscle, and a light sensor, which allows the muscle's activation to be controlled by light pulses.
The use of light to activate muscles is similar to the use of electrical stimulation by other existing therapies.
However, in patients with motor neurons that have been destroyed, electrical stimulation is not an option.
In their study, researchers implanted their engineered motor neurons into injured mice and found that the therapy restored mobility.
While not conclusive on its own, the study is a promising piece in the larger body of research.
See more of the study at http://www.
sciencedaily.
com/releases/2014/04/140404140303.
htm.
Controversy Stem cell therapy is controversial - particularly the kind used by the study above.
Many, if not most, practitioners and researchers today use mesenchymal stem cells in their procedures; this type of cell can be derived from the patient him- or herself and re-implanted in a different area of the body.
Ethical issues arise when embryonic cells are used.
While mesenchymal cells are highly useful in many applications, they aren't ideal for the regeneration or replacement of motor neuron cells.
The study above used embryonic stem cells to replace the mice's motor neurons.
This type of cell is controversial because it is derived from a human embryo that is destroyed thereafter.
The main opponents of this type of procedure and research are pro-life individuals and groups that believe the destruction of an embryo marks the devaluation of human life, and that this is a dangerous road for science to embark upon.
However, proponents defend the procedure mainly by pointing out the kind of embryos that are used.
All current research uses embryos that are left over from in vitro fertilization procedures.
When a woman decides to receive in vitro fertilization, many eggs are combined with many sperm in a lab dish.
Usually, a number of blastocysts (early embryos) form.
Some of these blastocysts are implanted in the woman, and others are stored in a freezer.
Once a woman has achieved her reproductive goal, she decides what to do with the embryos that remain frozen.
They can be defrosted, which destroys them; they can be donated for adoption; they can, finally, be donated to scientific research.
Federal funding is only allocated to research using embryonic cells obtained through a donor's consent.
Learn more about the guidelines at http://stemcells.
nih.
gov/policy/pages/2009guidelines.
aspx.
Time will tell if the controversial nature of embryonic cells interferes with the use of this therapy in the treatment of motor neuron conditions.
For patients suffering debilitating conditions in the near future, much is at stake with research into this potential regenerative treatment.
In the procedure, stem cells, which are "blank slate" cells that can develop into specialized cells depending on where they are transplanted, are injected into the body to regenerate damaged tissues.
The road from animal to human trials into the effectiveness and safety of stem cell therapy is a long one.
Recently, human studies into the efficacy of the therapy in degenerative disc conditions were given the green light.
However, human trials into other applications are some years away.
Researchers who recently conducted a mouse study into the therapy's ability to replace damaged motor neurons that lead to muscle deactivation hope that the results of their study add to a body of research that makes human studies possible within the next five years.
Patients with either spinal cord injury or motor neuron disease often lose the ability to move parts of their body due to damaged or destroyed motor neurons, which are responsible for transmitting motor signals from the brain to muscles in the body.
The procedure implemented by the researchers was rather complicated.
They derived motor neurons from embryonic stem cells and equipped them with a survival gene, which allows the cells to connect with muscle, and a light sensor, which allows the muscle's activation to be controlled by light pulses.
The use of light to activate muscles is similar to the use of electrical stimulation by other existing therapies.
However, in patients with motor neurons that have been destroyed, electrical stimulation is not an option.
In their study, researchers implanted their engineered motor neurons into injured mice and found that the therapy restored mobility.
While not conclusive on its own, the study is a promising piece in the larger body of research.
See more of the study at http://www.
sciencedaily.
com/releases/2014/04/140404140303.
htm.
Controversy Stem cell therapy is controversial - particularly the kind used by the study above.
Many, if not most, practitioners and researchers today use mesenchymal stem cells in their procedures; this type of cell can be derived from the patient him- or herself and re-implanted in a different area of the body.
Ethical issues arise when embryonic cells are used.
While mesenchymal cells are highly useful in many applications, they aren't ideal for the regeneration or replacement of motor neuron cells.
The study above used embryonic stem cells to replace the mice's motor neurons.
This type of cell is controversial because it is derived from a human embryo that is destroyed thereafter.
The main opponents of this type of procedure and research are pro-life individuals and groups that believe the destruction of an embryo marks the devaluation of human life, and that this is a dangerous road for science to embark upon.
However, proponents defend the procedure mainly by pointing out the kind of embryos that are used.
All current research uses embryos that are left over from in vitro fertilization procedures.
When a woman decides to receive in vitro fertilization, many eggs are combined with many sperm in a lab dish.
Usually, a number of blastocysts (early embryos) form.
Some of these blastocysts are implanted in the woman, and others are stored in a freezer.
Once a woman has achieved her reproductive goal, she decides what to do with the embryos that remain frozen.
They can be defrosted, which destroys them; they can be donated for adoption; they can, finally, be donated to scientific research.
Federal funding is only allocated to research using embryonic cells obtained through a donor's consent.
Learn more about the guidelines at http://stemcells.
nih.
gov/policy/pages/2009guidelines.
aspx.
Time will tell if the controversial nature of embryonic cells interferes with the use of this therapy in the treatment of motor neuron conditions.
For patients suffering debilitating conditions in the near future, much is at stake with research into this potential regenerative treatment.
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