Adult Stem Cell/Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cells Treat Fatal Disease

This is great: A child with a fatal genetic disease has apparently been treated effectively with a combination of adult/umbilical cord blood stem cells. From the story:

In October 2007, Nate Liao received marrow- and umbilical cord blood-derived stem cells and progenitor cells from his healthy, tissue-matched brother. Over the next six months, the skin and lining of his GI tract slowly improved, and skin biopsies on days 60, 130, and 200 documented increasing amounts of collagen type VII. By day 130, Nate's skin and the lining of his GI tract were beginning to show clinical signs that his skin was anchoring to his body.

Regenerative medicine has tremendous potential--and so much can be done without moral controversy.

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Used in Spinal Cord Surgery

Stories like this are finally breaking the back of the CURES! CURES! CURES! ESCR/cloning hype brigade: A patient is being treated with bone marrow stem cells as part of spinal surgery to help in healing. From the story in the Sacramento Bee, no less:

They are not from human embryos, but the stem cells being packed into Perry Anderson's spine may help him heal from a surgery that failed to heal the first time, leaving him hobbled and unable to work for nearly three years.

The same type of cells, derived from bone marrow, one day may help heart attack patients recover, ease the misery of inflammatory bowel disease, and allow diabetics to continue producing insulin.

While the ethical debate rages over the use of stem cells taken from discarded human embryos, bone marrow stem cells, harvested both from cadavers and from live donors, are being developed for use against a range of illnesses.

This was the kind of story that rarely made it through the news blockade until recently. But the progress in this field in human work is so undeniable that the blockade is beginning to crumble.

Of course some die-hards, like Ellen Goodman--as in this bitter column denying Bush any credit for promoting non-embryonic stem cell research--refuse to open their eyes. She writes:

First of all, the Bush administration bet on the wrong horse--adult stem cells.

That's what comes from only listening to one side of the debate. Ignorance, they name is Goodman.