Photo Copyright Fox News Group and Jenny Levine
Now that Annie, Vaishali, Courtney and I have given you a background on not only the biological processes and history of stem cell research, but also the political and ethical concerns surrounding the research and therapies of such biotechnology, we would like to now shift the focus of this blog to the meat of the matter: examining the current and future roles that stem cells have in science and health care. For example, what is stem cell technology used for today? What potential future does it hold not only in our country but also the world? How does this technology fit into our current health care system, FDA and NIH regulatory and governing bodies, as well a future business potential?
The article/Fox News Video story I chose as one of my last posts is about a girl named Chloe who suffered from a stroke while still in the womb. As a result, she suffers from Cerebral Palsy. Her parents, the Levine’s, noticed symptoms when Chloe was around nine months old. As she grew, her motor and speech skills seemed increasingly odd and the symptoms became more apparent (such as rigid and weak motion in one side of the body and speech pathology). Only when they took her to a specialist, they realized how severe these deficits were and what the cause was. Initial treatment included physical, speech and occupational therapy. The family looked into all their options to offer Chloe the best treatments and therapies possible.
The Levine’s, being forward-thinking and well-prepared, had banked Chloe’s umbilical cord blood around the time of her birth. Umbilical cord blood, especially one's own, is a viable source of healthy young stem cells absent of viruses or chemicals. The chances of rejection of one's own cord blood are nearly zero. According to David Zitlow of the Cord Blood Registry, “umbilical cord cells are smart – once they are re-infused into the body, they migrate to the exact spot of injury and help the damaged cells or tissue repair itself.”
With Chloe, they took stem cells from her banked umbilical cord blood and re-infused it back into her via IV transfusion, followed by a 4-hour fluid flush. Within days, her family noticed her symptoms taper. Chloe is part of a pre-clinical trial at Duke University, examining the effectiveness of umbilical cord blood in treating Cerebral Palsy in children.
I really like this article because it is a perfect example of why it should be mandatory that hospitals bank children’s umbilical cord blood for future use. The potential for this technology is seemingly endless. Moreover, this is truly something everyone can support: it is a painless procedure, the only associated costs are storage and retrieval, and it is ethically sound (compared to embryonic stem cell research as discussed in our previous posts). This blood can be used as a natural alternative to chemical therapies and should not just be thrown away! It only seems right that our government fund research on the potential of umbilical cord blood stem cells, as this technology is not particularly controversial and is supported by many, such as scientists, health care workers, policy makers, and those opposed to other types of stem cell research.
-Margeaux Berroth
Brown University Class of 2011
Human Biology Concentrator
The article/Fox News Video story I chose as one of my last posts is about a girl named Chloe who suffered from a stroke while still in the womb. As a result, she suffers from Cerebral Palsy. Her parents, the Levine’s, noticed symptoms when Chloe was around nine months old. As she grew, her motor and speech skills seemed increasingly odd and the symptoms became more apparent (such as rigid and weak motion in one side of the body and speech pathology). Only when they took her to a specialist, they realized how severe these deficits were and what the cause was. Initial treatment included physical, speech and occupational therapy. The family looked into all their options to offer Chloe the best treatments and therapies possible.
The Levine’s, being forward-thinking and well-prepared, had banked Chloe’s umbilical cord blood around the time of her birth. Umbilical cord blood, especially one's own, is a viable source of healthy young stem cells absent of viruses or chemicals. The chances of rejection of one's own cord blood are nearly zero. According to David Zitlow of the Cord Blood Registry, “umbilical cord cells are smart – once they are re-infused into the body, they migrate to the exact spot of injury and help the damaged cells or tissue repair itself.”
With Chloe, they took stem cells from her banked umbilical cord blood and re-infused it back into her via IV transfusion, followed by a 4-hour fluid flush. Within days, her family noticed her symptoms taper. Chloe is part of a pre-clinical trial at Duke University, examining the effectiveness of umbilical cord blood in treating Cerebral Palsy in children.
I really like this article because it is a perfect example of why it should be mandatory that hospitals bank children’s umbilical cord blood for future use. The potential for this technology is seemingly endless. Moreover, this is truly something everyone can support: it is a painless procedure, the only associated costs are storage and retrieval, and it is ethically sound (compared to embryonic stem cell research as discussed in our previous posts). This blood can be used as a natural alternative to chemical therapies and should not just be thrown away! It only seems right that our government fund research on the potential of umbilical cord blood stem cells, as this technology is not particularly controversial and is supported by many, such as scientists, health care workers, policy makers, and those opposed to other types of stem cell research.
-Margeaux Berroth
Brown University Class of 2011
Human Biology Concentrator
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