Umbilical Cord Blood, not Embryonic, Stem Cells
Re: Stem cells help woman walk again
This is absolutely great news, not only because a woman bedridden for 20 years is now taking her first steps, nor because this took place in my adopted home of South Korea, but because stem cells from umbilical cord blood, not embryos, were used.
It might be argued that embryonic stem cells are easier to use, but that does not make their use ethical, just as medical experiments on humans could never be ethical regardless of their efficacy. The ends do not justify the means.
From the above article:
[Click on the link above to read the rest.]
UPDATE -- Here's a photo from Korean Scientists Succeed in Stem Cell Therapy:
In this article, Professor Kang Kyung-sun, one of the researchers, describes one advantage of umbilical cord blood stem cells over embryonic stem cells:
Re: Stem cells help woman walk again
This is absolutely great news, not only because a woman bedridden for 20 years is now taking her first steps, nor because this took place in my adopted home of South Korea, but because stem cells from umbilical cord blood, not embryos, were used.
It might be argued that embryonic stem cells are easier to use, but that does not make their use ethical, just as medical experiments on humans could never be ethical regardless of their efficacy. The ends do not justify the means.
From the above article:
- "A SOUTH Korean woman paralysed for 20 years is walking again after scientists say they repaired her damaged spine using stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood.
"Hwang Mi-Soon, 37, had been bedridden since damaging her back in an accident two decades ago.
"Last week her eyes glistened with tears as she walked again with the help of a walking frame at a press conference where South Korea researchers went public for the first time with the results of their stem-cell therapy.
"They said it was the world's first published case in which a patient with spinal cord injuries had been successfully treated with stem cells from umbilical cord blood.
"Though they cautioned that more research was needed and verification from international experts was required, the South Korean researchers said Hwang's case could signal a leap forward in the treatment of spinal cord injuries.
"The use of stem cells from cord blood could also point to a way to side-step the ethical dispute over the controversial use of embryos in embryonic stem-cell research."
[Click on the link above to read the rest.]
UPDATE -- Here's a photo from Korean Scientists Succeed in Stem Cell Therapy:
A patient unable to walk for the past 19
years due to a spinal injury takes steps
after receiving stem cell therapy at the
Shilla Hotel in Seoul, Thursday.
In this article, Professor Kang Kyung-sun, one of the researchers, describes one advantage of umbilical cord blood stem cells over embryonic stem cells:
- "Embryonic stem cells are omni-potent in that they can divide into any thing even including a tumor cell. But cord blood stem cells are developed enough not to cause such troubles while retaining as powerful a differentiation capacity at the same time."
Redeemed by Our Savior, I work out my salvation with fear and trembling in Pohang, South Korea, where I live with my wife, daughter, and son and teach English at a science and technology university. Baptized a Methodist and raised a Missouri Synod Lutheran in Buffalo, NY, I spent six years as a guest of the Anglican Communion before being received by the Grace of God into the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church on the Feast of Saint Andrew, my patron, anno domini 2002.
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