Artificial Thymus Can Produce Cancer-fighting T Cells From Blood Stem Cells – Bioscience Technology

UCLA researchers have created a new system to produce human T cells, the white blood cells that fight against disease-causing intruders in the body. The system could be utilized to engineer T cells to find and attack cancer cells, which means it could be an important step toward generating a readily available supply of T cells for treating many different types of cancer.

The preclinical study, published in the journal Nature Methods, was led by senior authors Dr. Gay Crooks, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and of pediatrics and co-director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA, and Amelie Montel-Hagen, an associate project scientist in Crooks lab.

The thymus sits in the front of the heart and plays a central role in the immune system. It uses blood stem cells to make T cells, which help the body fight infections and have the ability to eliminate cancer cells. However, as people age or become ill, the thymus isnt as efficient at making T cells.

T cells generated in the thymus acquire specialized molecules, called receptors, on their surface, and those receptors help T cells seek out and destroy virus-infected cells or cancer cells. Leveraging that process has emerged as a promising area of cancer research: Scientists have found that arming large numbers of T cells with specific cancer-finding receptors a method known as adoptive T cell immunotherapy has shown remarkable results in clinical trials.

Adoptive T cell immunotherapy typically involves collecting T cells from people who have cancer, engineering them in the lab with a cancer-finding receptor and transfusing the cells back into the patient.

However, adoptive T cell immunotherapy treatments can be time-consuming, and people with cancer might not have enough T cells for the approach to work, according to Dr. Christopher Seet, the studys first author and a clinical instructor who treats cancer patients in the division of hematology-oncology at UCLA.

Since adoptive T cell immunotherapy was first used clinically in 2006, scientists have recognized that it would be more efficient to create a readily available supply of T cells from donated blood cells or from pluripotent stem cells, which can create any cell type in the body. The challenge with that strategy would be that T cells created using this approach would carry receptors that are not matched to each individual patient, which could ultimately cause the patients body to reject the transplanted cells or could cause the T cells to target healthy tissue in addition to cancer cells.

We know that the key to creating a consistent and safe supply of cancer-fighting T cells would be to control the process in a way that deactivates all T cell receptors in the transplanted cells, except for the cancer-fighting receptors, Crooks said.

The UCLA team used a new combination of ingredients to create structures called artificial thymic organoids that, like the thymus, have the ability to produce T cells from blood stem cells. The scientists found that mature T cells created in the artificial thymic organoids carried a diverse range of T cell receptors and worked similarly to the T cells that a normal thymus produces.

Next, the team tested whether artificial thymic organoids could produce the specialized T cells with cancer-fighting T cell receptors. When they inserted a gene that delivers a cancer-fighting receptor to the blood stem cells, they found that the thymic organoids produced large numbers of cancer-specific T cells, and that all other T cell receptors were turned off. The results suggest that the cells could potentially be used to fight cancer without the risk of T cells attacking healthy tissue.

Montel-Hagen said the artificial thymic organoid can easily be reproduced by other scientists who study T cell development. The UCLA researchers now are looking into using the system with pluripotent stem cells, which could produce a consistent supply of cancer-fighting T cells for patients in need of immediate life-saving treatment.

Kite Pharma holds a license to the artificial thymic organoid method, which is patented by the Regents of the University of California.

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Artificial Thymus Can Produce Cancer-fighting T Cells From Blood Stem Cells - Bioscience Technology

Alumni Weekend Teach-Ins 2017: stem cell research and standing up to "alternative facts" – UC Santa Cruz (press release)

The always-popular Teach-In lecture series returns to UC Santa Cruzs Alumni Weekend this year, with button-pushing presentations about the role of the humanities in a "post-truth" world and the intriguing potentials of stem cell research.

The students in both classes can bring their intellectual curiosity but leave those exam booklets behind.

This series will be one of the many highlights of Alumni Weekend festivities, which take place April 2830. Those who wish to attend this fun-filled weekend may register here.

There is no need to cram all night beforehand for these Teach-Ins. Just show up and enjoy. But be prepared with a couple of questions to ask. This will guarantee a lively and far-ranging discussion.

In the past, Teach-Ins were held simultaneously; returning Slugs wished they could have taken a class that would teach them how to clone themselves so they could attend all the talks. But this year, the lectures are being held at different times at Stevenson College, meaning that it is technically possible to attend both lecturesproviding that you register in advance to guarantee your spot.

The Teach-In lectures kick off on Saturday, April 29, at 1 p.m., at Stevenson College, room 150, with Rejuvenate Now: Stem Cell Research at UC Santa Cruz, a special talk by professor of molecular, cell and developmental biology Lindsay Hinck; professor of biomolecular engineering Camilla Forsberg; and assistant professor of biomolecular engineering Daniel Kim, who talk about the stem cell research taking place at the Institute for the Biology of Stem Cells (IBSC) at UC Santa Cruz.

Stem cells hold great promise for curing or mitigating the effects of many diseases and injuries. This talk will focus on three areas of stem cell research in particular: breast cancer, blood, and cellular reprogramming.

Attendees will learn how stem-progenitor cells that regulate breast development are targeted to become breast cancer stem cells, how stem cells decide to become a particular type of mature blood cell, and how this process can go haywire, causing disease in the process. Registration is required to attend this talk, and you can do so by visiting this link.

While stem cell research can fight disease, the humanities can fight lies and distortions in the political arena.

In a Teach-In entitled Ex Post Facto, Gina Dent, associate professor of feminist studies, history of consciousness, and legal studies at UC Santa Cruz, will discuss the role of the humanities in responding to the current discussion of alternative facts. How can we develop a critical relationship to facticity, while preserving the ability to think and act politically? The talk starts at 2:45 p.m. at Stevenson College, room 175.

This discussion could not be more timely in this era of suspect sourcing and plastic realities.Register here for this Teach-In.

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Alumni Weekend Teach-Ins 2017: stem cell research and standing up to "alternative facts" - UC Santa Cruz (press release)

Stem Cell Research: Japanese Man’s Body Accepts Cells From … – International Business Times

On Tuesday, a 60-year-old Japanese man became the first human being to receive "reprogrammed" stem cells. The cells were derived from induced pluripotent stem (iPS), which were donated by another person.

The iPS cells are developed by removing mature cells from one individual and reprogramming them to embryonic state. The fact that the transplanted cells were accepted by the patient opens up doors for research on the subject. In the future, scientists could use a combination of stem cells from different donors to treat diseases, according to the Nature journal.

Read:Bones Grown With Stem Cells Could Help Treat Injuries Easily

In the procedure, skin cells from an anonymous donor were reprogrammed into a type of retinal cells and then transplanted into the retina of the patient to treat age-related macular degeneration, which makes a person go blind in advanced age. Physicians hope that the cells will stop the disease from progressing.

This is not the first time such a procedure has been tried out. In 2014, a Japanese woman underwent a similar procedure, in which her iPS cells were transformed into retinal cells and transplanted for treating the same disease. The Nature report added that the procedure was successful and her body properly accepted the cells.

However, the difference between both procedures is that, in the womans case, the skin cells were taken from her own skin. The team working on Tuesdays procedure, which includes the surgeon who performed the earlier surgery, Yasuo Korimoto, decided to rework the old procedure with cells taken from another person.

Read:Mini-Brain Derived From Stem Cells Could Help Treat Rare Disorder

The biggest risk with using another persons iPS cells is that they could contain genetic abnormalities or they may not offer a genetic match, which could increase the chances of rejection.

The study was approved by Japans health ministry in February and will include a total of five patients.

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Stem Cell Research: Japanese Man's Body Accepts Cells From ... - International Business Times

A Stem Cell Platform for Accelerating Genetic Disease Research … – Technology Networks

These are neural stem cells in the adult mouse hippocampus. Green: the stem cells and their progeny express protein. Magenta: the hippocampal stem cells generate newborn neurons. Blue: mature granule neurons. Credit: Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have successfully grown stem cells from children with a devastating neurological disease to help explain how different genetic backgrounds can cause common symptoms. The work sheds light on how certain brain disorders develop, and provides a framework for developing and testing new therapeutics. Medications that appear promising when exposed to the new cells could be precisely tailored to individual patients based on their genetic background.

In the new study, published in The American Journal of Human Genetics, researchers used stem cells in their laboratory to simultaneously model different genetic scenarios that underlie neurologic disease. They identified individual and shared defects in the cells that could inform treatment efforts.

The researchers developed programmable stem cells, called induced pluripotent stem cells, from 12 children with various forms of Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease, or PMD. The rare but often fatal genetic disease can be caused by one of hundreds of mutations in a gene critical to the proper production of nerve cell insulation, or myelin. Some children with PMD have missing, partial, duplicate, or even triplicate copies of this gene, while others have only a small mutation. With so many potential causes, researchers have been in desperate need of a way to accurately and efficiently model genetic diseases like PMD in human cells.

By recapitulating multiple stages of the disease in their laboratory, the researchers established a broad platform for testing new therapeutics at the molecular and cellular level. They were also able to link defects in brain cell function to patient genetics.

Stem cell technology allowed us to grow cells that make myelin in the laboratory directly from individual PMD patients. By studying a wide spectrum of patients, we found that there are distinct patient subgroups. This suggests that individual PMD patients may require different clinical treatment approaches, said Paul Tesar, PhD, study lead, Dr. Donald and Ruth Weber Goodman Professor of Innovative Therapeutics, and Associate Professor of Genetics and Genome Sciences at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

The researchers watched in real-time as the patients stem cells matured in the laboratory. We leveraged the ability to access patient-specific brain cells to understand why these cells are dysfunctional. We found that a subset of patients exhibited an overt dysfunction in certain cellular stress pathways, said Zachary Nevin, first author of the study and MD/PhD student at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. We used the cells to create a screening platform that can test medications for the ability to restore cell function and myelin. Encouragingly, we identified molecules that could reverse some of the deficits. The promising finding provides proof-of-concept that medications that mend a patients cells in the laboratory could be advanced to clinical testing in the future.

The stem cell platform could also help other researchers study and classify genetic diseases with varied causes, particularly other neurologic disorders. Said Tesar, Neurological conditions present a unique challenge, since the disease-causing cells are locked away in patients brains and inaccessible to study. With these new patient-derived stem cells, we can now model disease symptoms in the laboratory and begin to understand ways to reverse them.

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A Stem Cell Platform for Accelerating Genetic Disease Research ... - Technology Networks

Plasticell signs stem cell research collaborations with Singapore academia – Drug Target Review

news

Plasticell, a developer of stem cell technologies and cell-based therapies, has signed agreements with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to progress its therapeutic stem cell pipeline.

We are delighted to have put together this collaboration which has such enormous potential for the creation of next-generation stem cell products, commented Dr Yen Choo, founder and Executive Chairman of Plasticell.

Separate agreements with the two Singapore research centres encompass technology licensing, collaborative research and scientific exchange visits.

Plasticell will initially collaborate with the laboratories of Professor Peter Drge (School of Biological Sciences, NTU) and Dr Farid Ghadessy (p53Lab, A*STAR) to apply proprietary genome editing technology to insert functional multi-transgene cassettes into specific loci of human stem cell lines.

The engineered lines will be used by Plasticell in multiple projects focused on precisely directed stem cell differentiation, phenotypic screening for drug discovery and in next-generation immuno-oncology applications.

Plasticell is a biotechnology company leading the use of high throughput technologies to develop stem cell therapies. The Companys therapeutic focus is in hematopoietic stem cell therapy, anaemia and thrombocytopenia, cancer immunotherapy and diabetes/obesity.

Plasticells Combinatorial Cell Culture (CombiCult) platform technology, allows it to test very large numbers of cell culture variables in combinations to discover optimal laboratory protocols for the manipulation of stem cells and other cell cultures and has received a number of industry awards including the Queens Award for Enterprise in Innovation and theR&D 100 Award.

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Plasticell signs stem cell research collaborations with Singapore academia - Drug Target Review

UConn Professor conducting T and stem cell research to treat cancer, autoimmune disease – UConn Daily Campus

Laijun Lai, an Associate Research Professor at the University of Connecticut is currently doing research to find treatment for cancers, autoimmune deficiencies and genetic diseases through the use of T cells and stem cells.

The first area of his research focuses on gene engineering approaches to treating cancers and autoimmune diseases.

Lais research has resulted in two patents and several grants from NIH, the American Cancer Society and the Connecticut Regenerative Medicine Fund.

We are very excited with our results. We believe that our research will eventually lead to the new approach in the treatment of cancer, autoimmune diseases or genetic diseases, such as (DGS), Lai said.

The progression of cancerous tumors is accompanied by a very significant suppression of the immune system, which interferes with the bodys ability to send an effective immune response in order to eliminate chemotherapy, Lai said.

In terms of autoimmune disease, disorders develop when the immune system targets and destroys the bodys own tissues, Lai said.

Therefore, the study investigates new approaches to enhance T cell function for use in the treatment of cancer, while also looking for new ways to inhibit T cell function to treat autoimmune disease, Lai said.

Several T cell inhibitor molecules have been identified. Were trying to find a new T cell inhibitor molecule by using the bioinformatic approach to identify several new genes that are related to T cell inhibitor molecules, Lai said.

He then used the gene engineering approach to produce recombinant proteins from these genes. And these preliminary studies have shown that in a dish, the proteins can inhibit T cell function.

By using the gene engineering approach we can enhance the immune function that can fight a lot of diseases, such as cancer and infections, Lai said.

The second area of my research is using stem cell technology to prevent and treat autoimmune disease, Lai said.

The thymus, an organ of the immune system, is the primary organ that naturally produces T cells for the body.

Thymic epithelial cells (TECs) mediate T cell selections, generating T cells that are able to react with foreign antigens, such as bacteria and viruses, Lai said.

In the prevention or treatment of autoimmune diseases, it would induce immune tolerance of certain antigens by using the mechanisms that would occur in the thymus under normal circumstances, Lai said.

However, the thymus undergoes age-dependent involution resulting in a serious compromise of T cell function in the elderly, Lai said. Many studies have shown that embryonic stem cells (ESCs) or pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have huge potential to treat many diseases because these cells can change into many types of cells in a dish.

Through the transplantation of ESCs can cause immune tolerance to the disease causative self-antigens and treat or even prevent autoimmune diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, Lai wrote in a research statement.

The third area of my research is using stem cell technology to model and treat genetic diseases such as DiGeorge Syndromealso known as DGS, Lai said.

DGS is one of the most common genetic diseases in humans.

One of the characteristic features of DGS is that the patient has a profound thymic aplasia or hypoplasia that results in T cell immunodeficiency, Lai said, So we are going to determine the ability of ESC-derived TECs to prevent and treat DGS.

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UConn Professor conducting T and stem cell research to treat cancer, autoimmune disease - UConn Daily Campus

U.S. Stem Cell, Inc. and Advanced Stem Cell Rx Develop Strategic Alliance – Yahoo Finance

SUNRISE, FL / ACCESSWIRE / March 30, 2017 / U.S. Stem Cell, Inc. (USCC) (USRM), a Florida corporation and leader in novel regenerative medicine solutions and physician-based stem cell therapies for human and animal patients, has developed a strategic alliance with Advanced Stem Cell Rx (ASC), a US based provider of regenerative medicine programs, including the development of autologous stem cell treatment centers throughout the US.

"Stem cells are critical to our survival and at the core of our regenerative and healing powers. They will play an immense role in redefining the preferred treatment method for the majority of diseases commonly afflicting mankind. We, at ASC, are proud to form a strong alliance with US Stem Cell Inc., one of the oldest and most respected stem cell research and therapy companies in the world," stated Dr J.S. Landow, Managing Director of ASC.

ASC is commercializing many of the proprietary treatments developed by USSC and is currently implementing turnkey programs into qualified practices across the U.S. ASC has contracted with practices in over 20 states in the US. The company utilizes treatments which employ over 20 years of US Stem Cell's international research findings and among the world's elite cellular scientists and other luminaries in the stem cell field. Patient selection is critical, with acceptance for treatment based upon patient's meeting specific criteria and undergoing a consultation with a member of the clinical team.

About U.S. Stem Cell, Inc.

US Stem Cell, Inc. (formerly Bioheart, Inc.) is an emerging enterprise in the regenerative medicine / cellular therapy industry. We are focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of cell based therapeutics that prevent, treat, or cure disease by repairing and replacing damaged or aged tissue, cells, and organs, and restoring their normal function. We believe that regenerative medicine / cellular therapeutics will play a large role in positively changing the natural history of diseases, ultimately, we contend, lessening patient burdens, as well as reducing the associated economic impact disease imposes upon modern society.

Our business, which includes three operating divisions (US Stem Cell Training, Vetbiologics, and US Stem Cell Clinic), includes the development of proprietary cell therapy products, as well as revenue generating physician and patient based regenerative medicine / cell therapy training services, cell collection and cell storage services, the sale of cell collection and treatment kits for humans and animals, and the operation of a cell therapy clinic. Management maintains that revenues and their associated cash in-flows generated from our businesses will, over time, provide funds to support our clinical development activities, as they do today for our general business operations. We believe the combination of our own therapeutics pipeline combined with our revenue generating capabilities provides the Company with a unique opportunity for growth and a pathway to profitability.

Forward-Looking Statements:

Except for historical matters contained herein, statements made in this press release are forward-looking statements. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, words such as "may," "will," "to," "plan," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "could," "would," "estimate," or "continue," or the negative other variations thereof, or comparable terminology, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Also, forward-looking statements represent our management's beliefs and assumptions only as of the date hereof. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

The Company is subject to the risks and uncertainties described in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the section entitled "Risk Factors," in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

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Media Contact:

U.S. Stem Cell, Inc. 13794 NW 4th Street, Suite 212 Sunrise, Fl 33325 Phone: 954.835.1500 Email: usstemcell@us-stemcell.com

SOURCE: U.S. Stem Cell, Inc.

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U.S. Stem Cell, Inc. and Advanced Stem Cell Rx Develop Strategic Alliance - Yahoo Finance

New research finds novel method for generating airway cells from stem cells – Medical Xpress

March 30, 2017

Researchers have developed a new approach for growing and studying cells they hope one day will lead to curing lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis through "personalized medicine."

Researchers at the Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM) at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) have discovered that one particular signaling pathway, Wnt, helps direct lung development. A signaling pathway is how developing cells get instruction on what types of cell to become, such as a liver cell, a skin cell, a brain cell, etc.

Using this finding, researchers implemented a new way to use stem cells made from any individual, including cells from patients with cystic fibrosis, and turn them into airway cells, which they then grew into three-dimensional spheres. These airway spheres now can be used to study cystic fibrosis disease activity using a specific test called a swelling assay.

"Because airway spheres from a patient with cystic fibrosis do not swell in our assay but airway spheres from a healthy person do, we can see whether adding a certain drug or combination of drugs causes them to swell more. Finding a drug that causes them to swell might imply that patient would benefit from that treatment," explained corresponding author Darrel Kotton, MD, director of the CReM and Seldin Professor of Medicine at BUSM.

"This study represents our progress towards making airway spheres from any patient with a lung disorder and learning about that patient's disease from those cells. We hope this leads to the ability to design, study and test new therapies for every patient on their own cells in the lab, leading to new treatments and breakthroughs in personalized medicine for individuals with a variety of lung diseases, including cystic fibrosis," explained lead author Katherine McCauley, a PhD student at BUSM.

The researchers believe this process can be used to study other lung diseases such as asthma and emphysema.

The findings are published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

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New research finds novel method for generating airway cells from stem cells - Medical Xpress

Stem cell centre coming to Kamloops? – CFJC Today Kamloops

KAMLOOPS My curiosity was sparked when I read that a stem cell centre was opening in Kamloops (Kamloops This Week, March 21, 2017).

So I went to the location of the centre at 470 Columbia St only to find a parking lot. Thinking that the address might be wrong, I searched the directory of the medical building next door and found that no stem cell centre was listed.

The Stem Cell Centers website lists Kamloops as the only one in Canada. Dr. Richard Brownlee is named as the surgeon with more information coming soon.

Stem cell therapy, says the website, can help with orthopedic or pain management, ophthalmological conditions, cardiac or pulmonary conditions, neurological conditions, and auto-immune diseases, among many other conditions and disease that results in damaged tissue.

One of the ophthalmological conditions they treat is macular degeneration. If your vision is fading due to macular degeneration, you know its time to seek help. Our non-invasive Stem Cell Therapy treatment might be the solution for you.

I wanted get Dr. Brownlees reaction to news that an unproven stem cell treatment had resulted in blindness according to the New England Journal of Medicine as reported in the Globe and Mail, March 20, 2017.

This week, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) reported on three individuals who went blind after receiving an unproven stem cell treatment at a Florida clinic. The patients paid thousands of dollars for what they thought was a clinical trial on the use of stem cells to treat macular degeneration.

The writer of the Globe and Mail article, Timothy Caulfield, Research Chair of the in Health Law and Policy at the University of Alberta, doesnt name the Florida clinic.

The Stem Cell Centers website refers optimistically to treatment for macular degeneration at a Florida clinic, although apparently not theirs since no Florida clinic appears on their list. It tells of how Doug Oliver suffered from macular degeneration before stem cells were extracted from his hip bone and injected them into his eyes. Almost immediately, Olivers eyesight started to improve. I began weeping, he said.

Caulfield encourages caution. Health science gets a lot of attention in the popular press. People love hearing about breakthroughs, paradigm shifts and emerging cures. The problem is, these stories are almost always misleading. It can also help to legitimize the marketing of unproven therapies.

Reports from the Stem Cell Centers own website are cautionary as well. It quotes an abstract from a study done by the Southern California College of Optometry on how stem cells might ultimately be used to restore the entire visual pathway.

The promise of stem cell research is phenomenal. Scientific American (Jan., 2017) reports that brains can be grown in a lab dish from stem cells taken from skin. These samples can be used to research brain disorders ranging from schizophrenia to Alzheimer's disease, and to explore why only some babies develop brain-shrinking microcephaly after exposure to the Zika virus.

However, Dr. George Daley, dean of Harvard Medical School, concludes that there are only a handful of clinical applications available and they are for skin and blood-related ailments.

Practice, it seems, has not yet matched the promise of stem cell research.

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Stem cell centre coming to Kamloops? - CFJC Today Kamloops

Does the Catholic Church Oppose All Stem-Cell Research?

Important Questions

The Catholic Church is concerned with the protection of all innocent human life, as Pope Paul VI's landmark encyclical, Humanae vitae (1968), made clear. Scientific research is important, but it can never come at the expense of the weakest among us.

Stem cells are a special type of cell that can easily divide to create new cells; pluripotent stem cells, which are the subject of most research, can create new cells of various types. Over the last several years, scientists have been optimistic about the possibility of using stem cells to treat a wide range of diseases and other health problems, because stem cells could potentially regenerate damaged tissues and organs.

While news reports and political debates often use the term stem-cell research to discuss all scientific research involving stem cells, the truth is that there are a number of different types of stem cells that are being studied. For example, adult stem cells are often drawn from bone marrow, while umbilical-cord stem cells are taken from the blood that remains in the umbilical cord after birth.

Most recently, stem cells have been found in the amniotic fluid that surrounds a baby in the womb.

There is no controversy about research involving all of these types of stem cells. In fact, the Catholic Church has publicly supported adult and umbilical-cord stem-cell research, and Church leaders were among the first to applaud the discovery of amniotic stem cells and to call for further research.

The Church has consistently opposed research on embryonic stem cells, however. For several years now, many scientists have called for greater research on embryonic stem cells, because they believe that embryonic stem cells exhibit greater pluripotency (the ability to divide into different types of cells) than, say, adult stem cells.

The public debate around stem-cell research has focused entirely on embryonic stem-cell research (ESCR). The failure to distinguish between ESCR and other forms of stem-cell research has muddied the debate.

Despite all of the media attention that has been devoted to ESCR, not a single therapeutic use has been developed with embryonic stem cells. In fact, every use of embryonic stem cells in other tissue has led to the creation of tumors.

The greatest advances in stem-cell research so far have come through adult stem-cell research: Dozens of therapeutic uses have been developed and are currently in use. And the discovery of amniotic stem cells may well provide scientists with all the advantages that they had hoped to derive from ESCR, but without any of the moral objections.

On August 25, 2000, the Pontifical Academy for Life released a document entitled Declaration on the Production and the Scientific and Therapeutic Use of Human Embryonic Stem Cells, which summarizes the reasons why the Catholic Church opposes ESCR.

It doesnt matter whether scientific advances may be made through ESCR; the Church teaches that we can never do evil, even if good may come of it, and there is no way to obtain embryonic stem cells without destroying innocent human life.

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Does the Catholic Church Oppose All Stem-Cell Research?