Is Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research in Jeopardy? – Healthline – Healthline

Studies on diseases like ALS, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's jeopardized if GOP-controlled Congress cuts funding for embryonic stem cell research.

In 2010, when renowned stem cell scientist Lawrence Goldstein, PhD, published his groundbreaking book Stem Cells for Dummies, with co-author Meg Schneider, the forecast for human embryonic stem cell research had just begun to brighten.

In 2001, former President George W. Bush cast a cloud over this field of science by barring the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from funding research that used embryonic stem cells beyond the 60 cell lines that already existed.

But in 2009, then-President Barack Obama signed an executive order repealing Bushs policy.

Obamas decision enabled researchers like Goldstein, director of the UC San Diego Stem Cell Program, and Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center, to make real progress, inching closer to human clinical trials.

Goldsteins work focuses on discovering clinical applications for human embryonic stem cells, also known as ESC.

His work looks specifically at clinical applications for neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and Alzheimers, Parkinsons, and Huntingtons diseases.

After 10 years, weve seen a variety of projects that use embryonic stem cells moving closer to clinical applications and in clinical trials, Goldstein told Healthline.

Although its taken some time, were getting closer to seeing the most promising approach for treatment of different neurologic disorders that have no suitable treatment alternative.

Read more: Stem cells therapy offers hope for MS remission

But now use of human embryonic stem cells are once again under fire from conservative and pro-life groups.

Contrary to popular belief, human embryonic stem cells do not come from aborted fetuses.

All the human embryonic stem cell lines currently in use are derived from unused embryos developed for in vitro fertilization and donated for research.

They are cells that would have only been discarded.

Nevertheless, their use in research is opposed by many in the pro-life movement, including a vocal coalition in Congress.

Last month, 41 conservatives in the House urged President Trump to fire Dr. Francis Collins, director of the NIH, the worlds largest agency funding biomedical research, because Collins supports embryonic stem cell research.

However, Trump announced last week he was reappointing Collins, a widely respected physician-geneticist.

Several Republican leaders in Congress had reportedly urged Trump to retain him, calling Collins the right person, at the right time, to continue to lead the worlds premiere biomedical research agency.

But Trumps decision didnt sit well with many in his voting base and his own cabinet.

Vice President Mike Pence, and Health and Human Services Secretary, Tom Price, have both spoken out against the use of embryonic stem cells on moral grounds.

Just a few weeks ago, Pence got a standing ovation at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast when he reminded the audience that he was the one who cast the tie-breaking vote in the United States Senate that allowed states to defund Planned Parenthood.

The Congressional conservatives who called on Trump to fire Collins are voicing their anger over Trumps decision to retain Collins.

Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., told LifeNews, a pro-life publication, that he was disappointed in the Trump Administrations decision.

Dr. Collins support of embryonic stem cell research, along with his comments that cloned embryos do not deserve the same moral protections as naturally generated embryos, make him a less than an ideal fit for a pro-life administration, Banks said. I am hopeful that Dr. Collins will turn away from embryo-killing research as he continues his tenure as NIH director.

Trumps election has resulted in a new and unprecedentedly tenuous era for the NIH. Its funding has typically had bipartisan support.

Despite Trumps seemingly pro-science pivot, the NIH still faces a potential $5.8 billion cut about 18 prevent in the presidents fiscal 2018 budget.

And this plank from the 2016 GOP platform remains in place:

We oppose embryonic stem cell research. We oppose federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. We support adult stem cell research and urge the restoration of the national placental stem cell bank created by President George H.W. Bush but abolished by his Democratic successor, President Bill Clinton.

Goldstein and several other scientists interviewed for this story said that while Trumps decision to retain Collins is a positive, theres still no guarantee that embryonic stem cell research will continue getting support from the federal government in this increasingly hostile and volatile political climate.

While human embryonic stem cells are just one of several types of stem cells being studied for their innate, but complex, abilities to treat diseases, Goldstein explained, they are an important weapon in a growing arsenal.

It takes a great deal of time, money, and patience to develop these therapies, he noted.

It would be a shame to go back to the dark age solution that we had under the Bush administration, said Goldstein, who is currently focused largely on ALS, also known as Lou Gehrigs disease, named for the legendary New York Yankee.

Gehrig died from the disease at age 37.

Goldstein said a lot of individuals and institutions are working to find treatments for ALS, which has enjoyed a boost in awareness and funding thanks to the recent Ice Bucket Challenge that caught on nationwide.

Its important that we develop an aggressive set of cell therapy programs so that we have multiple shots on goal, Goldstein said. We need to attack the disease from as many angles as possible.

Read more: Stem cell therapy a possible treatment for RA

For the last 25 years, Frances Saldaa has been on a mission to increase awareness of Huntingtons disease (HD), a debilitating, incurable, and often inherited disease.

Its become my mission in life to advocate for support of HD research and for excellence in patient care, said Saldaa, whose husband, Hector Portillo, didnt tell her he had the disease.

Three of their children inherited HD from their father. Both of Saldaas daughters have died, and her son is not doing well.

My son Michael is fighting for his life every single day, but time is running out for him too, she said. The suffering endured at the end of life for HD patients is unimaginable. My daughter, Margie, and her husband did not have the money to go through IVF when they started their family. They had two beautiful children. I live in fear that my two grandchildren, now 19 and 21, are also at risk of inheriting HD.

When Saldaa learned that members of Congress were urging President Trump to fire Collins, her heart sank.

To have the door close on this research because they have this belief would be tragic, she said. In my opinion, an embryonic egg is not life until its attached to the placenta.

Saldaa said that if she had the opportunity, she would ask people who oppose this research, Have they ever seen their own children dying devastating deaths? Have they ever seen their own children lose the ability to talk, to swallow? Have they ever had their own child die in their arms, and yet know that there is hope, that there is a chance with this research to find a cure?

Ive dedicated my life to supporting this research, from Team Hope walks to bake sales, everything and anything to find a cure, she said.

Leslie Thompson, PhD, a professor of psychiatry and human behavior, and professor of neurobiology and behavior, at the University of California Irvine, has devoted her entire career to unlocking the mysteries of Huntingtons disease and finding treatments.

Thompson, who said many of her patients with HD are like family, said human embryonic stem cells present great hope for finding a treatment for HD.

And after decades of painstaking study, she told Healthline that her work could lead to human clinical trials for people with HD as soon as two or three years from now.

Thompson keeps a picture of Saldaas children in her office to remind her of what her research is really all about.

Im deeply concerned how this could move the field backwards, she said, but added that she is hopeful her work and that of others will be allowed to continue.

Were in an exciting, unprecedented time of opportunity to use stem cells for treatments, she said.

When former President George W. Bush decided to halt new human embryonic stem cell research, Saldaa recalled, We all jumped and went toward getting Prop 71 passed.

The California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative, which was passed by a 60-40 margin, was drafted by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. It has provided millions of dollars in stem cell research in the state, including embryonic stem cell research.

The public vote on this initiative has helped California become the national leader in stem cell research.

There is also solidarity in the stem cell community. Even scientists who dont use human embryonic stem cells still support their colleagues who do.

Jeanne Loring, PhD, a professor of developmental neurobiology, and director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., made the shift about a decade ago from human embryonic stem cells to induced pluripotent stem cells (IPS), which she makes from cells cultured from skin biopsies.

There are certain advantages to IPS, she said, but added that she still fully supports embryonic stem cell research.

Its hard to predict what President Trump will do, said Loring, whose lab is working on finding treatments for Parkinsons disease, discovering the cause of autism, ways to treat it, and more.

Loring notes that there are great misunderstandings about embryonic stem cell research and where the cells come from.

There is always an undercurrent of misunderstanding about sources of human stem cells. People think they are associated with abortion but they are not. she said.

Read more: Using stem cells to heal broken bones

What lies ahead for human embryonic stem cell research is anyones guess.

When Obama signed the order to lift Bushs ban on new embryonic stem cell research, he said, In recent years, when it comes to stem cell research, rather than furthering discovery, our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values.

In this case, I believe the two are not inconsistent. As a person of faith, I believe we are called to care for each other and work to ease human suffering. I believe we have been given the capacity and will to pursue this research and the humanity and conscience to do so responsibly.

Goldstein said he hopes Trump, too, will embrace the importance of this research that seeks to find treatments for deadly diseases.

Its early in this administration, there is still time for them to staff up with people who will give the President the appropriate scientific advice, Goldstein said. There are many challenges facing us that are technological in nature. You cant have a humming economy without robust investment in science. It drives the development of new technologies and devices. An investment in science pays far more than what you put in.

Goldstein said investing heavily in science has helped give the United States the quality of life that Americans now enjoy.

Our investments in science and technology are likely the reason for winning World War II, he said. And our investment in biotech has revolutionized medicine and has been invaluable to providing jobs in many states.

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Is Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research in Jeopardy? - Healthline - Healthline

New Law Opens Door for Stem Cell Therapy in Texas – Spectrum News

AUSTIN, Texas -- The legal battle to get patients access to stem cell therapy in Texas is closer to reality.

Gov. Greg Abbott signed such legislation into law this week, and itmeans some patients will be heading into uncharted medical territory.

Come Sept. 1, patients with terminal illnesses or severe chronic diseases will be allowed to access experimental stem cell treatments in Texas.

MORE |Governor Signs Law to Allow Chronic, Terminally Ill in Texas to Get Stem Cell Treatments

Currently, mostpatients who want stem cell therapy have to travel outside the United States to do it, and stem cell re-injections are only allowed here within a 24-hour window.

"This is going to protect patient health, and provide for the treatments to be done here locally at home," saidMike Byrom, the Chief Science Officer at Austin stem cell bankBioEden.

Byrom said the new lawwill keep patients in the country, and will provide renewed hope for those with serious ailments.

This hope resulted in anemotional fight this session.

Texas State Rep. Drew Springer, R-Gainesville, gave an impassioned speech for the legislation as the deadline to read new bills approached, urging lawmakers to keep it from dying.

"I'll be damned if we don't get the chance tonight to hear the very next bill that opens up the doors of medical science," saidSpringer, whose wife is wheelchair-bound."It might give somebody like my wife a chance to walk."

But not everyone's convinced this is the right way to go.

"We want access for patients to the best drugs, but we think they ought to go through the FDA approval process," saidTexans for Cures Chairman David Bales.

Bales was one of the few people who testified against the bill. While he supports more stem cell research,hearguesthe state should fund it, rather than letting for-profit businesses lead the way.

"You run the risk of medical fraud because a lot of these guys, a lot of these patients, are paying a lot of money, to physicians and drug manufacturers who haven't gone through the right process,"Balessaid.

Patients who will be participating in stem cell therapy procedures will give up their right to take legal action if something goes wrong.

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New Law Opens Door for Stem Cell Therapy in Texas - Spectrum News

Texas has sanctioned unapproved stem cell therapies. Will it change anything? – Science Magazine

Texas Governor Greg Abbott just signed a law making it easier for unproven stem cell therapies to be given to patients in his state.

Marjorie Kamys Cotera/Bob Daemmrich Photography/Alamy Stock Photo

By Kelly ServickJun. 15, 2017 , 11:15 AM

Texas Governor Greg Abbott yesterday signed a bill allowing clinics and companies in the state to offer people unproven stem cell interventions without the testing and approval required under federal law. Like the right to try laws that have sprung up in more than 30 states, the measure is meant to give desperately ill patients access to experimental treatments without oversight from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

In a state where unproven stem cell therapies are already offered widely with little legal backlash, bioethicists and patient advocates wonder whether the states official blessing will maintain the status quo, tighten certain protections for patients, or simply embolden clinics already profiting from potentially risky therapies.

You could make the argument thatif [the new law] was vigorously enforcedits going to put some constraints in place, says Leigh Turner, a bioethicist at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, who last year co-authored a study documenting U.S. stem cell clinics marketing directly to consumers online, 71 of which were based in Texas. But it would really be surprising if anybody in Texas is going to wander around the state making sure that businesses are complying with these standards, he adds. Either way, Turner says theres powerful symbolic value in setting up this conflict between state law and federal law.

The law, effective 1 September, will allow people with severe chronic or terminal illness to be treated at a clinic that purports to isolate therapeutic stem cells from adult tissuesuch as a patients own fatif their doctor recommends it after considering all other options, and if its administered by a physician at a hospital or medical school with oversight from an institutional review board (IRB). It also requires that the same intervention already be tested on humans in a clinical trial. The law sanctions a much broader set of therapies than federal rules, which already exempt certain stem cell interventions from FDAs lengthy approval process, provided the cells are only minimally manipulated and perform the same function they normally have in body.

The Texas bills clinical trial and IRB requirements seem to weed out some dubious therapies, but the language is too nebulous to protect patients, says Beth Roxland, a bioethicist at New York Universitys Langone Medical Center in New York City. The bill doesnt specify that a trial be conducted in the United States or that the therapy get clearance from FDA for human testing. You could gain access to something [as long as its] being studied in a human somewhere on the planet, she says, which in the stem cell area makes it really very scary.

Awareness about the risks of unproven stem cell therapies is growing. A case report published in The New England Journal of Medicine earlier this year documented three women who lost their vision after receiving purported stem cell injections meant to treat age-related degeneration of the retina. Such risks are also the subject of a news conference today at the annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research in Boston.

Roxland is also unnerved by a provision in the Texas law that would prevent any state government entity from interfering with a patients access to treatment. Hypothetically, if a state officially gets wind of nefarious doings at a for-profit clinic the state officials are now restrained from doing anything. She notes that that language mirrors a proposal in a federal bill known as the Trickett Wendler Right to Try Act, introduced in the Senate in January, which would prevent the federal government from interfering with a terminally ill patients access to an experimental drug outside of a clinical trial, and would prevent FDA from considering those patients outcomes in its drug approval decisions. Vice President Mike Pence signaled his support for the law in February and met with the family of Trickett Wendler, who advocated for right to try laws before her death from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2015.

Others also believe that the Texas laws approval might signal a coming thaw in federal regulation of stem cell clinics. The FDA obviously doesnt have the manpower to watch over these people, says David Bales, chairman of the advocacy group Texans for Cures in Austin, which pushed for more patient protections in the new bill. We really feel like theyre trying to open up the floodgates.

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Texas has sanctioned unapproved stem cell therapies. Will it change anything? - Science Magazine

Brain Cell Transplants Are Being Tested Once Again For Parkinson’s – NPR

Researchers are working to revive a radical treatment for Parkinson's disease.

The treatment involves transplanting healthy brain cells to replace cells killed off by the disease. It's an approach that was tried decades ago and then set aside after disappointing results.

Now, groups in Europe, the U.S. and Asia are preparing to try again, using cells they believe are safer and more effective.

"There have been massive advances," says Claire Henchcliffe, a neurologist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York. "I'm optimistic."

"We are very optimistic about ability of [the new] cells to improve patients' symptoms," says Viviane Tabar, a neurosurgeon and stem cell biologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Henchcliffe and Tabar joined several other prominent scientists to describe plans to revive brain cell transplants during a session Tuesday at the International Society for Stem Cell Research meeting in Boston.

Their upbeat message marks a dramatic turnaround for the approach.

During the 1980s and 1990s, researchers used cells taken directly from the brains of aborted fetuses to treat hundreds of Parkinson's patients. The goal was to halt the disease.

Parkinson's destroys brain cells that make a substance called dopamine. Without enough dopamine, nerve cells can't communicate with muscles, and people can develop tremors, have difficulty walking and other symptoms.

Drugs can temporarily raise dopamine levels, easing symptoms. But their effectiveness tends to wane over time.

So researchers thought a better approach would be to simply replace the cells that produce dopamine. "The rationale is that if those cells are lost, and we know they make dopamine, and we know that dopamine is important for good coordination, good automatic movement, why could we not replace those cells," Henchcliffe says.

For some patients, the transplanted fetal cells produced dramatic improvements. But rigorous studies eventually showed that many other patients were not helped. And some developed an unwelcome side effect: uncontrolled movements.

So in 2003, researchers declared a moratorium on transplants for Parkinson's. "There was a stepping back to re-evaluate what exactly just happened," Henchcliffe says.

That took a while. But it's clear now that over the long term, some patients really were helped by the procedure.

Henchliffe got to examine five people who'd received transplants more than 15 years earlier.

"These were patients with decades of Parkinson's disease, and I thought it was really striking that a subset actually seemed to be doing much better than one would expect," she says.

Meanwhile, researchers never stopped looking for ways to make cell transplants safer and more effective.

The early transplants were pretty crude, Tabar says. One problem was that the cells came directly from the brains of fetuses, she says.

"What you were placing in the patient was just a soup of brain," she says. "It did not have only the dopamine neurons, which exist in the tissue, but also several different types of cells."

Some of those other cells may also have grown in the patients' brains, causing side effects, she says.

To prevent that sort of problem, scientists at Sloan Kettering have spent the past dozen years figuring out how to turn stem cells into pure lines of dopamine cells in the lab.

Unlike the transplanted fetal cells, these cells are an exact replacement for the neurons that produce dopamine in an adult brain, "So you are confident that everything you are putting in the patient's brain will consist of right type of cell," Tabar says.

Another advantage of lab-grown cells is that the supply is unlimited. "Not only can we grow them, in fact we have almost 1,000 doses of these cells already sitting in a freezer," Tabar says.

Tabar, along with her colleague and husband, Lorenz Studer, hope the Food and Drug Administration will give them permission to begin testing those cells in Parkinson's patients in 2018.

Both have a financial stake in a startup that's funding the project.

Meanwhile, several other groups around the globe are also launching transplant studies. Researchers say a handful of patients in Australia have already received cells.

Some scientists are worried that the renewed rush to make transplants work could lead to more disappointments.

But Tabar says the time is right. "On the one hand, you don't want to rush," she says. "On the other hand I think the field is ready for something bold."

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Brain Cell Transplants Are Being Tested Once Again For Parkinson's - NPR

Stem cell research program out of funds in three years – San Diego Reader

Californias taxpayer-funded $3 billion stem cell research program, officially known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, is spending money at the rate of $22,000 an hour, and expected to run out of cash in three years, reports Capitol Weekly.

The multi-billion-dollar bond borrowing was authorized by state voters in 2004 after elite scientists and Hollywood stars, including Parkinsons sufferer Michael J. Fox and quadriplegic Christopher Reeve, argued in a $34 million ballot campaign that medical miracles were just around the corner. They teased the public, Jim Lott, an ex-vice president of the Hospital Association of Southern California and critic of the program told Capitol Weekly. They teased us with Proposition 71. And they did not deliver on the tease, and I dont want them to be able to get away with that again.

Additional funding sought by the institute, critics say, should be conditioned on reforming the way cash grants are handed out, which currently go overwhelmingly to those affiliated with institutions who control seats on the stem cell groups board. We need to do this in a more responsible and accountable way, according to Lott.

As the battle for new money ramps up, UCSDs Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center, number four among top funding recipients, is looking for a new communications director, to receive a salary commensurate with experience. Says an online job notice, This position works closely with and supports the Executive Director on communications of scientific and medical information of interest to our community and constituents.

Minimum qualifications include demonstrated experience in writing and editing promotional materials, e.g. newsletters, brochures, web announcements, fact sheets, background pieces, etc. Another requirement: Must be willing to work on projects where animals and human embryonic stem cells are used in research.

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Stem cell research program out of funds in three years - San Diego Reader

Stem cell research could help the infertile – Shanghai Daily (subscription)

SCIENTISTS at Beijings Tsinghua University are leading the world in inducing in-vitro differentiation of human embryonic stem cells into follicle-like cells. The breakthrough is expected to help the study of premature ovarian failure and improve assisted reproductive technology.

The achievement of the research team led by Professor Kehkooi Kee was published in the latest issue of academic journal Nature Communications.

The research showed the differentiation of human embryonic stem cells into follicle-like cells can be achieved under the combined action of two RNA-binding proteins specifically expressed in germ cells, DAZL and BOULE, and growth factors GDF9 and BMP15.

Kee, a Malaysian Chinese scientist, said that unlike somatic cells, germ cells can transmit the genetic chromosomes of the father and mother to the next generation. In the genetic process, germ cells undergo unique meiosis and genetic recombination.

How do the germ cells regulate this process? How do they keep the balance between passing the genes to the next generation and creating a diverse genome? That is the most interesting question for me in this field of study, said Kee.

However, scientists must overcome difficulties. Although they can obtain some human germ cell samples by patient agreement, the sample size is far from enough for molecular experiments and cell experiments.

We needed to build an in-vitro platform to study the various mechanisms during the process of human germ cell development. So we chose human embryonic stem cells to differentiate into germ cells, including sperms and eggs, Kee said.

In 2009, he and his colleagues used human embryonic stem cells to create human primordial germ cells and sperm-like cells for the first time.

After successfully culturing human sperm-like cells in-vitro, Kees team tried to culture follicle-like cells. A follicle is composed of an oocyte and many granulosa cells around it. At first we thought inducing the formation of granulosa cells would be a challenge.

But it was found that growth factors GDF9 and BMP15 could promote the development of follicles.

We have compared the in-vitro cultured cells with in-vivo cells, and found they have many similar characteristics. But we can only call the in-vitro cells follicle-like, because we cant prove they are exactly the same until we conduct functional experiments, Kee said. We hope to improve the efficiency of our experiment, and culture more mature antral follicles to test their function.

Helping the infertile is the aim of the research team. Some women cannot have babies because of premature ovarian failure. We might study whether this is caused by gene mutations by conducting in-vitro germ cell experiments, and then develop treatments, Kee said.

The team is also attempting to induce the differentiation of human embryonic stem cells into germ cells on Chinas first cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou-1, to study the effects of the space environment on human reproduction.

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Stem cell research could help the infertile - Shanghai Daily (subscription)

Stem Cell Therapy Offers Hope for Multiple Sclerosis Remission – Healthline

By combining an experimental stem cell treatment with a nanoparticle delivery system, researchers may eventually stop MS and other autoimmune diseases.

An innovative stem cell therapy could change how we treat multiple sclerosis (MS), but are we any closer to a cure?

The work of Dr. Su Metcalfe, founder and chief scientific officer of the biotech company LIFNano, appears to be breathing new life into that hope.

Metcalfe and her team developed a way to fight MS by using the bodys own natural mechanisms but it hasnt been tested in humans yet.

MS is an inflammatory and neurodegenerative autoimmune disease that can result in an array of neurological symptoms including fatigue, muscle spasms, speech problems, and numbness. It is caused by the immune system attacking myelin, the insulating coating that runs along the outside of nerve cells. The result is damage to the brain and central nervous system.

The disease currently affects roughly 2.5 million people worldwide. About 200 new cases are diagnosed each week in the United States.

LIFNano uses a new treatment based on LIF a stem cell protein that forms naturally in the body to signal and regulate the immune systems response to myelin.

LIF, in addition to regulating and protecting us against attack, also plays a major role in keeping the brain and spinal cord healthy, Metcalfe recently told Cambridge News.

In fact it plays a major role in tissue repair generally, turning on stem cells that are naturally occurring in the body, making it a natural regenerative medicine, but also plays a big part in repairing the brain when its been damaged, she said.

Metcalfe has spent years studying LIF, but only recently realized its potential for treatment likening it to an on/off switch for the immune system.

However, once she discovered its potential, there were almost immediate problems in its application. One of the earliest was how quickly LIF breaks down once it is administered into the body.

If you try just to inject it into a patient, it dissipates or disappears in about 20 minutes, Olivier Jarry, CEO of LIFNano, told Healthline.

That makes it unusable in a clinic. You would have to have some kind of pump and inject it continually.

A breakthrough came for Metcalfe when she took findings from her studies of LIF and applied them to nanotechnology. The treatment she is now developing relies on nanospheres derived from a well-established medical polymer known as PLGA, which is already used in materials like stitches. And because it is biodegradable, it can be left to dissolve inside the body.

Storing LIF inside these PLGA nanospheres before administering them into the bloodstream allows for a sustained dose over the course of several days.

The process differs significantly from the current drugs used to treat MS. These treatments most often fall under the category of drugs known as immunosuppressors, which inhibit the bodys overall immune system response.

LIF is theoretically much more precise than immunosuppressors, and should keep the immune system functioning against harmful infections and disease.

Were not using any drugs, said Metcalfe. Were simply switching on the bodys own systems of self-tolerance and repair. There arent any side effects because all were doing is tipping the balance. Autoimmunity happens when that balance has gone awry slightly, and we simply reset that.

The team cautions that LIF therapy is still several years away.

While some outlets have run wild with Metcalfes research, announcing that a cure for MS is right around the corner, those headlines are speculative.

Some MS advocacy groups have even made public statements calling coverage of her work premature and irresponsible.

Jarry told Healthline that LIFNano is expecting to enter FDA phase I trials in 2020. This would be the first time that it is used in human subjects. But even if the treatment proves to be safe and effective, the soonest it could be on the market is 2023, he estimated.

The main focus of LIF therapy is now on MS. But it has potential for treating other autoimmune diseases including psoriasis and lupus.

We are optimistic in the sense that we may provide a long-term remission for patients with MS, said Jarry.

Is it a cure? Wed love at some point to use the term cure, but we are very cautious.

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Stem Cell Therapy Offers Hope for Multiple Sclerosis Remission - Healthline

WideCells well-placed for stem cell revolution – Proactive Investors UK

One company, several arms

PLC () has three separate businesses all housed under the same company, the biggest of which is currently CellPlan, the worlds first stem cell healthcare insurance plan.

While stem cell storage costs a few thousand pounds, the cost of the treatments that use them can run into the hundreds of thousands.

For an average premium of 150 per year, CellPlan provides insurance for up to 1mln of treatment, travel, accommodation and repatriation costs.

Following the recent award of a licence from Portuguese regulators at the beginning of June, CellPlan is now authorised to be sold in three countries the UK, Spain and Portugal.

WideCells entered the year with a definitive agreement with the UKs largest cord blood bank, Biovault, to market and sell its product to both new and existing customers of the facility.

With that licence in hand, the launch of CellPlan to Biovault stem cell storage customers is anticipated to follow later this month which should generate the plans maiden revenues.

WideCells has established the Institute of Stem Cell Technology which is based in the University of Manchester Innovation Centre. It focuses on stem cell research and regenerative medicine, and the company is already exploiting the commercial potential of this facility.

At the end of last year it inked a letter of intent with a California-based medical device company that could be worth up to 100,000.

Qigenix agreed to pay the sum in three stages so it can use WideCells' Institute of Stem Cell Technology to undertake some research.

WideCells third revenue stream comes from its blood banking operations, for which the group inked two more outlying deals at the end of January to take it into the rapidly expanding Brazilian umbilical cord cell storage market.

Between them, the two new reputable storage and processing facilities had more than 5,000 high net worth clients on their books.

The Brazilian cord blood banking market is projected to be worth almost US$450mln by 2023, making it the largest in South Americas booming stem cell industry.

In all, there are 500 of these banks dotted around the world; however, the top ten banks store around half the samples.

Last but not least is WideAcademy which is still in its infancy. Its WideCells education and training division, designed to promote awareness of the benefits of stem cell storage.

The plan is to work with strategic partners in the tech and education sector to produce and deliver informative and easily-digestible content and courseware.

For London-listed WideCells, the venture is something of win-win. It expects WideAcademy to be profitable on its own by charging for access to some of the resources, while at the same time helping to boost interest in its other businesses.

There are some big names on board, too. Incs () former head of education, Alan Greenberg, is heading up the WideAcademy team as the divisions senior vice president, while Jimmy leach, ex-head of digital communications at Downing Street, is the editor-in-chief.

WideCells published its maiden results for the year to 31 December 2016 back in March, having only listed last summer.

Like most developing companies, the group - which raised 2mln when it floated on the main market - only had revenues of 25,000 for the full-year to December 31 2016, down from 50,644 a year earlier, while its loss for the year increased to 1.361mln, up from 213,056 a year earlier reflecting higher administration costs following flotation.

But WideCells had cash and cash equivalents of 1.149mln at the year-end, up from 33,753 a year earlier.

That figure should be a little healthier now, given that it raised 649,000 through a private placing back in April.

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Berkeley Stem Cell Center – Research UC Berkeley

The Berkeley Stem Cell Center supports research and teaching in stem cell biology, engineering, and medicine at UC Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Children's Hospital and Research Center at Oakland. Activities sponsored by the Center include seminars, roundtables, and an annual retreat. The Center's CIRM funded Shared Stem Cell Research Laboratories in Stanley Hall and LSA provide investigators with fully equipped stem cell tissue culture and flow cytometry facilities and outstanding technical expertise. Its CIRM Center of Excellence, located in the Li Ka-Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences, provides additional state of the art laboratory space and core facilities for tissue culture and flow cytometry, as well as molecular and cellular and whole animal imaging. Through its CIRM training program, the Center annually awards stem cell research fellowships to 16 highly talented pre-doctoral, postdoctoral, and physician scientists in training. The Siebel Stem Cell Institute - UC Berkeley supports stem cell research collaborations between Berkeley Stem Cell Center and Stanford University investigators, and provides funding to bring notable visiting scholars to campus.

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Scientists Starting Dangerous Embryonic Stem Cell Trials With Cells That Could Mutate in Patients – LifeNews.com

China will begin trialling the use of embryonic stem-cells (ES) to treat Parkinsons disease and macular degeneration, in a move that has met with criticism from international experts.

The trials, which come in the wake of new stem-cell regulations introduced in China in 2015, will test the efficacy of injecting ES-derived cells into damaged areas of the brain and eyes.

In one trial, ES-derived neuronal-precursor cells will be injected into the areas of the brain affected by Parkinsons disease in attempt to regenerate dopamine-producing tissue. In another trial, the ES-derived retinal cells will be injected into eyes of people with age related macular degeneration. It is believed that the retinal cells may be able to replace cells damaged as a result of epithelial tissue degeneration.

It will be a major new direction for China, Pei Xuetao, a stem-cell scientist at the Beijing Institute of Transfusion Medicine who is on the central-government committee that approved the trials, told Nature.

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Other researchers who work on Parkinsons disease, however, worry that the trials might be misguided.

Jeanne Loring, a stem-cell biologist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, who is also planning stem-cell trials for Parkinsons, is concerned that the Chinese trials use neural precursors and not ES-cell-derived cells that have fully committed to becoming dopamine-producing cells. Precursor cells can turn into other kinds of neurons, and could accumulate dangerous mutations during their many divisions, says Loring. Not knowing what the cells will become is troubling.

Lorenz Studer, a stem-cell biologist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, says that support is not very strong for the use of precursor cells. I am somewhat surprised and concerned, as I have not seen any peer-reviewed preclinical data on this approach, he told Nature.

LifeNews Note: This appeared at Bioedge.org and is reprinted with permission.

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Scientists Starting Dangerous Embryonic Stem Cell Trials With Cells That Could Mutate in Patients - LifeNews.com