Carrying a little excess weight? Fret not. It may be a blessing in disguise. Science Daily — Expanding waistlines, unsightly bulges: people will gladly remove excess body fat to improve their looks. But unwanted fat also contains stem cells with the potential to repair defects and heal injuries in the body. A team led by Philippe Collas at the University … Read More
Researchers Advance the Survival and Growth of Adult Stem Cells
Science Daily — MIT researchers have developed a technique to encourage the survival and growth of adult stem cells, a step that could help realize the therapeutic potential of such cells. Here’s a statement you won’t see in any main stream news article: “Those [adult] stem cells hold great promise for treatment of injuries and some diseases.” That is from … Read More
Pharmacy Protection
Please say a special prayer today for Rep. Emery, who I work for. His pharmacy protection bill will be heard in a committee hearing tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. I am not sure if they will be voting on it then or not. The bill specifies that pharmacies will be immune from liability for refusal to perform, assist, recommend, refer … Read More
WWJD?
Dave Andrusko has a column on the National Right to Life website responding to Michael D. Kerlin’s op-ed for Newsday offering a “spiritual” rationale for embryonic stem cell research (he is specifically talking about the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act to expand federal funding for ESC research). Things like this always make me queasy because they get the teachings and … Read More
Man Walks, Courtesy Stem Cell Therapy
More good news from adult stem cells. A 23 year old man who was paralyzed below the waist is now walking again, regaining 50% sensation, after being treated with his own stem cells taken from his bone marrow. Nearly 100 ml of his bone marrow was removed, harvested and isolated before the stem cells were injected near the injured spot … Read More
Life is Worth LIVING!!
The National Catholic Register has an article about the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada’s recommendation that all pregnant women be tested for “chromosomal abnormality.” This is their equivalence to the American OBGYN’s similar suggestion, only the Americans specifically mentioned “Down Syndrome” as the target. The article’s line that pro-life groups say, “it is hostile to people with Down … Read More
Troubled Iowa Dreams
Richard Doerflinger, the deputy director of the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has an article on National Review about the recent decision by Iowa lawmakers to overturn a previous cloning ban. The language they adopted resembles what was done in Missouri with Amendment 2 – banning the implantation or attempted implantation of a cloned … Read More
David Prentice Refutes Attacks in Science Journal
The journal Science has published a letter by Dr. David Prentice, the founding member of the DoNoHarm Coalition, and its communications director about treating diseases with adult stem cells. Last July Science published an article attacking Dr. Prentice and DoNoHarm for its claim that over 72 diseases have been treated with adult stem cells. It was published right before congress … Read More
A Decade After Dolly
Nature magazine has an article out reviewing the cloning debate 10 years after Dolly was cloned. The gist of the article is that the cloning debate shifted away from reproductive cloning (to create baby) and now focuses on “therapeutic” or research cloning (to create human embryos for research). “What really took place is that the stem-cell debate replaced the cloning … Read More
Love and Be Loved
“This is the great mystery of our faith. We do not choose God, God chooses us. From all eternity we are hidden ‘in the shadow of God’s hand’ and ‘engraved in his palm.’ Before any human being touches us, God ‘forms us in secret’ and ‘textures us ‘ in the depth of the earth, and before any human being decides … Read More