AUSTIN, Texas -- Gov. Greg Abbott has signed a new law that allows terminally ill or those which chronic diseases receive stem cell treatments in Texas.

Stem cell therapy is the use of stem cells to treat or prevent a disease or condition, and is often patient's last hope for improvement.

Bone marrow transplant is the most widely used stem-cell therapy, and can often help those with multiple sclerosis and other diseases.

House Bill 810, which was introduced by Rep. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound, passed in both the Texas House and Senate.

"It is easy to fall into the trap of viewing legislation as just words on a piece of paper," said Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, the bill's sponsor in the Senate. "But for the many people who are ill with multiple sclerosis and other diseases that stem cell therapy has the hope of solving in our lifetime, I look at this bill, I look at the possibility of what can happen in the 21st Century, with Texas taking the lead on adult stem cell treatments and this bill has the potential to extend lives and make a difference for these patients."

The Texas Medical Board will be responsible for writing the rules for the treatment.

"Everyone has a zest for life. This adult stem cell treatment possibility gets government out of the way to let these new therapies flourish and give these patients hope for a future good quality of life," Bettencourt added.

The legislation takes effect Sept. 1.

-- Value of Stem Cell Therapy --

According to the National Institues of Health, stem cellshave the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body during early life and growth.

In addition, in many tissues they serve as a sort of internal repair system, dividing essentially without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive.

When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the potential either to remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell.

Doctors say stem cells are important for living organisms for many reasons.

In the 3- to 5-day-old embryo, called ablastocyst, the inner cells give rise to the entire body of the organism, including all of the many specialized cell types and organs such as the heart, lungs, skin, sperm, eggs and other tissues.

In some adult tissues, such as bone marrow, muscle, and brain, discrete populations of adult stem cells generate replacements for cells that are lost through normal wear and tear, injury, or disease.

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When she entered medicine in the mid-1980s, Masayo Takahashi chose ophthalmology as her specialty, she said, because she wanted to have a family and thought the discipline would spare her from sudden work calls in the middle of the night, helping her best balance work and life.

Three decades later, the 55-year-old mother of two grown-up daughters is at the forefront of the nations even the worlds research into regenerative medicine.

In September 2014, she offered a ray of hope to scores of patients suffering from a severe eye condition when her team at the Riken institutes Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe succeeded in a world-first transplanting of cells made from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into a human body.

The operation, conducted as a clinical study, involved creating a retinal sheet from iPS cells, which were developed by Shinya Yamanaka, a researcher at Kyoto University. His 2006 discovery of iPS cells, which can grow into any kind of tissue in the body, won him a Nobel Prize in 2012.

During the 2014 procedure, the retinal sheet was transplanted into a female patient in her 70s with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), an eye disorder that blurs the central field of vision and can lead to blindness. The research team used iPS cells made from the patients own skin cells.

Takahashi made history again in March when she and her team carried out the worlds first transplant of retina cells created from donor iPS cells stocked at Kyoto University. The time and cost necessary for the procedure has been significantly reduced by using the cells, which are made from super-donors, people with special white blood cell types that arent rejected by the immune systems of receiving patients.

Takahashi was in Tokyo last week to speak at the Foreign Press Center and later with The Japan Times. She recounted the highlights of her 25-year research and the numerous legal and other challenges she has overcome.

Takahashi points to the day she led that first iPS transplant surgery Sept. 12, 2014 as the high point of her career so far. Because she worked so hard leading up to the surgery to confirm the safety of the retinal cells, she said that when the operation was over, she was relieved and slept very well.

It wasnt the same for Yamanaka, who provided the stem cells to Takahashi, she said, chuckling. Yamanaka-sensei couldnt sleep well after the surgery because he didnt know about the safety of the cells very well. I should have convinced him.

Some researchers have expressed concern that iPS cell-derived cells have a higher risk of developing cancer. But Takahashi said she knew from the outset that the type her team was making, retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells, are extremely unlikely to cause tumors. RPE cells make up the pigmented layer of tissue that supports the light-sensitive cells of the retina.

People in the world think iPS cells are very dangerous because we modify the genes, she said. The retinal pigment epithelium cell is very safe. We knew it from the beginning because we have never seen a metastatic tumor from this cell. Ophthalmologists know very well that this cell is very safe and very good.

The Osaka native said she learned of and became fascinated by the possibility of using stem cells for eye diseases in the mid-1990s, when she took a year off from clinical practice at Kyoto University to work as a researcher at the Salk Institute in San Diego. She moved to Riken in 2006.

More than 2 years have passed since that first iPS surgery, but the transplanted cells remain intact. According to Takahashi, it was not the goal of the research from the outset to improve the eyesight of the patient, who suffered from a very severe case of AMD. Before the surgery, the patient required injections of drugs into her eyeball every two months, but her visual acuity was declining. After the surgery, her acuity stabilized, and more importantly, she is happy, feeling that her vision has brightened and widened, Takahashi said.

Many challenges remain, however, to advance the technology and make it commercially available. One of the issues is cost, Takahashi said, adding that it will take until around 2019 before the cost of the iPS treatment for AMD will fall below 10 million. The first surgery in 2014 cost about 100 million in total, much of which was spent to maintain the clean room and culture the cells.

Still, Takahashi sees a huge potential for iPS cell therapy in her field and beyond.

Every disease has potential to be treated by iPS cell-derived cells or ES (embryonic stem) cell-derived cells in the future, she said, responding to a question on the chances of iPS cells being used to treat ALS, a rare, degenerative neurological disease for which there is currently no cure.

She said she has learned through her experience that some patients are very happy with small improvements.

For ALS, at first, I thought, its a systemic, whole-body disease, so I didnt know how they can fix it, she said. But a doctor (who specializes in ALS) said, its OK, if one finger moves, its (still) OK. So I realized that some benefit will come from cell therapy.

A Matter of Health is a weekly series on the latest health research, technology or policy issues in Japan. It appears on Thursdays.

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Scientists have used artificial skin grafts grown from induced pluripotent stem cells to cover the developing spines of rat fetuses while still in the womb.

Asian Scientist Newsroom | June 14, 2017 | In the Lab

AsianScientist (Jun. 14, 2017) - Researchers from Japan have developed a stem cell-based therapy to treat a severe congenital bone defect known as myelomeningocele. Their findings have been published in Stem Cell Reports.

Myelomeningocele is the most serious and common form of spina bifida, a condition in which the backbone and spinal canal do not close before birth, leaving parts of the spinal cord and nerves exposed.

A baby born with this disorder typically has an open area or a fluid-filled sac on the mid to lower back. Most children with this condition are at risk of brain damage because too much fluid builds up in their brains. They also often experience symptoms such as loss of bladder or bowel control, loss of feeling in the legs or feet, and paralysis of the legs.

To develop a minimally invasive treatment to cover large myelomeningocele defects earlier during pregnancy, the researchers first generated artificial skin from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and then successfully transplanted the skin grafts into rat fetuses with the condition.

We provide preclinical proof of concept for a fetal therapy that could improve outcomes and prevent lifelong complications associated with myelomeningoceleone of the most severe birth defects, said senior study author Professor Akihiro Umezawa of Japan's National Research Institute for Child Health and Development.

Since our fetal cell treatment is minimally invasive, it has the potential to become a much-needed novel treatment for myelomeningocele.

The human iPSCs were generated from fetal cells taken from amniotic fluid from two pregnancies with severe fetal disease (Down syndrome and twin-twin transfusion syndrome). The researchers then used a chemical cocktail in a novel protocol to turn the iPSCs into skin cells and treated these cells with additional compounds such as epidermal growth factor to promote their growth into multi-layered skin.

In total, it took approximately 14 weeks from amniotic fluid preparation to 3D skin generation, which would allow for transplantation to be performed in humans during the therapeutic window of 28-29 weeks of gestation.

Next, the researchers transplanted the 3D skin grafts into 20 rat fetuses through a small incision in the uterine wall. The artificial skin partially covered the myelomeningocele defects in eight of the newborn rats and completely covered the defects in four of the newborn rats, protecting the spinal cord from direct exposure to harmful chemicals in the external environment.

Moreover, the engrafted 3D skin regenerated with the growth of the fetus and accelerated skin coverage throughout the pregnancy period. Notably, the transplanted skin cells did not lead to tumor formation, but the treatment significantly decreased birth weight and body length.

We are encouraged by our results and believe that our fetal stem cell therapy has great potential to become a novel treatment for myelomeningocele, Umezawa said. However, additional studies in larger animals are needed to demonstrate that our fetal stem cell therapy safely promotes long-term skin regeneration and neurological improvement.

The article can be found at: Kajiwara et al. (2017) Fetal Therapy Model of Myelomeningocele with Three-dimensional Skin Using Amniotic Fluid Cell-derived Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.

Source: Cell Press; Photo: Kazuhiro Kajiwara. Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.

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El Grecos Resurrection

A rabbi has issued a warning after concluding that raising the dead is clearly possible.

Its not for man to do.

The comments come from Rabbi Moshe Avraham Halperin and were reported by Breaking Israel News.

If they are able to revive a person from total brain death, it will be considered techiyat hamaytim [resurrection], he told BIN. Torah laws puts limits on man, forbidding him from some areas which are strictly divine. Reviving the dead is one of them.

Further, another rabbi said such experiments never will succeed.

The Rambam states that we must believe that the resurrection of the dead will happen when it is Gods will for it to take place and at no other time, Rabbi Yosef Berger, of King Davids Tom on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, told the news agency.

Transhumanism: Recreating humanity reveals the secret ways scientists are using technologyto pursue immortality, omniscience and ultimate power. Now available in the WND Superstore.

He was citing the 13 Principles of Faith set down by Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, whose 12th century work established him as a Torah authority and gave him the acronym Rambam.

He stated, I believe by complete faith that there will be a resurrection of the dead at the time that will be pleasing before the Creator.

That, Berger suggested, means, Not only does this effort by scientists go against this principle of faith, but we know that true resurrection can only happen by Divine will. Resurrection of the dead is described in depth, and it is proof of Gods rule over the physical world. But it is also stated that before the Messiah, there is no return from the grave.

The comments come on the heels of plans by a biomedical company, Bioquark, a startup based in Pennsylvania, to experiment with stem cells in an attempt to revive brain-dead patients.

BIN reported the company said it would launch experiments before the end of the year on such patients.

The trial will involve a multi-pronged approach, involving injecting stem cells and peptides into the spinal cords, electrical nerve stimulation, and laser therapy. The researchers hope this will grow new neurons and spur them to connect to each other, bringing the brain back to life, BIN reported.

The story pointed out that Bioquark reportedly tried such an experiment in India in 2016 but it was not with the approval of the nations drug regulators.

Amar Jesani, editor of the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics in Mumbai, cautioned that even partial success would traumatize families that had come to terms with a situation they believed irreversible. In point of fact, no families permitted their loved ones to be part of the experiment, BIN reported.

Halperin said, This is like using genetics to create a new form of life. There are realms that are strictly divine. Resurrection of the dead is clearly possible. It is definitely going to happen after the Messiah, but it restricted to God.

It was reported about a year ago that Bioquark and another company were embarking on the Reanima project, using a new drug formula involving stem cells.

Their plan was to use neurons, proteins, peptides and more that would create a microenvironment in which the stems cells can mature.

The report said, Inspired by organisms like salamanders that can regrow severed or damaged tails, Bioquark researchers have been developing regenerative treatments for a host of uses, from cancer to spinal cord injuries.

WND had reported when the company was given the green light on the visionary project.

The company said then it was capable of creating dynamics in mature tissues that are normally only seen during human fetal development, as well as during limb and organ regeneration in organisms like amphibians.

Christian author and filmmaker Tom Horn, at that time, said scientists are redefining what it means to be human, with the goal of transcending humanity.

Right here in North Carolina at your university, they have what is called a transgenic lab, which means they have mice that have human genetic material, for testing to see if the human parts in that animal are responding, he told TV host Sid Roth in a recent interview.

Using a gene-editing technique, one university lab cured cancer in a group of rats, but the unintended consequences were that the rats started aging very quickly and died at half-life, and nobody knows why that happened, Horn said. There is a danger in playing God because youre not God and you dont know.

Transhumanism: Recreating humanity reveals the secret ways scientists are using technologyto pursue immortality, omniscience and ultimate power. Now available in the WND Superstore.

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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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Fat doesn't just sit on top of your bones according to recent research it can also be found inside of your bone marrow too, and running can help shrink it.

According to Dr. Maya Styner, the study's lead researcher and an assistant professor of endocrinology and metabolism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, exercise has the ability to improve bone quality, particularly in obese mice.

Though the research on mice is not directly translated to human results, Styner says, "The kinds of stem cells that produce bone and fat in mice are the same kind that produce bone and fat in humans."

Marrow is the spongy tissue found inside some of your bones and is comprised of stem cells, nerves, blood vessels and fat. In healthy adults, bone marrow is half red and half yellow.

The yellow portion of bone marrow is used to store fats and provide sustenance required for bone function. In the event of severe blood loss or fever, yellow marrow can turn red.

Styner's study suggests that, like other types of body fat, marrow fat can be used as a source of energy.

"There's been intense interest in marrow fat because it's highly associated with states of low bone density, but scientists still haven't understood its physiologic purpose," said Styner. "We know that exercise has a profound effect on fat elsewhere in the body, and we wanted to use exercise as a tool to understand the fat in the marrow."

The study, which looked at the marrow fat in mice, found after six weeks obese mice who ran on a wheel had a significant reduction in the size of their fat cells, and in some cases appeared identical to lean mice.

"One of the main clinical implications of this research is that exercise is not just good, but amazing for bone health," said Styner. "With obesity, it seems that you get even more bone formation from exercise. Our studies of bone biomechanics show that the quality and the strength of the bone is significantly increased with exercise and even more so in the obese exercisers."

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Stem cells might not be a good option for your kid's sports injury Miami Herald They are seen as the body's master cells, and studies have shown these cells have the capacity to differentiate into bone, cartilage, muscle and ligament tissues. MSC cells are usually harvested from bone marrow or fat cells. Evidence from laboratory ...

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Keith Roach, To Your Health 6:38 p.m. ET June 13, 2017

Dear Dr. Roach: I hope you can answer some questions about myelodysplastic syndrome. What does it do to your body? Is there a known cause or cure? What is the prognosis?

P.B.

Dear P.B.: The myelodysplastic syndromes are a group of similar diseases, specific types of blood cancers, that prevent your bone marrow from working properly. They also can transform into acute leukemia. These are uncommon cancers, with perhaps 30,000 cases per year in the U.S. The specific myelodysplastic syndromes are now categorized by appearance, genetic abnormalities of the cells, and condition of the bone marrow.

MDS may arise from damage to DNA, such as from radiation or other toxic exposures. However, many cases have no known cause, and its likely that these are spontaneous mutations in the bone marrow cells.

Because MDS is a group of related diseases, the treatment and prognosis vary among the different subtypes. However, supporting the bone marrow with transfusions of red blood cells and platelets often is necessary. Medications to stimulate both red and white blood cell production can be used. A few people will be recommended for bone marrow (stem cell) transplant, but the decision to consider this treatment must be made cautiously, as many people who get MDS will not benefit from this treatment due to age or other medical conditions.

The prognosis depends on the age of the person affected and their specific MDS. A person younger than 60 with a low-risk MDS has a median survival (based on data published in 1997) of about 12 years. However, high-risk MDS has a much worse outcome: Half of people succumb within six months. Advances in treatment since these data were published have improved these results, but not as much as hoped.

Dear Dr. Roach: My 89-year-old mother suffers from fluttering in her heart. She saw an expert in cardiac arrhythmias, who diagnosed her with tachy-brady syndrome and sick sinus syndrome. A nurse also said she has PVCs. She is taking metoprolol, but still has episodes of fluttering.

What are these conditions? Are there other medications that she could take to correct this heart condition?

M.D.P.

Dear M.D.P.: Tachy-brady syndrome (from the Greek roots for fast and slow) and sick sinus syndrome are the same thing. The sinus in sick sinus syndrome refers to the sino-atrial node of the heart, which is the hearts natural pacemaker. It is where every beat normally starts. This part of the heart can become diseased, and the heart can beat too quickly (tachycardia) and, at other times, too slowly (bradycardia). Sick sinus syndrome can come from many different conditions and, rarely, from medications.

Medications are sometimes used for sick sinus syndrome. Beta blockers, like the metoprolol your mother is taking, are given to slow down the tachycardic component of sick sinus, but it can make the bradycardia worse. Most often, the treatment for sick sinus syndrome is a permanent pacemaker. Not everyone needs it, but Im sure your mothers cardiologist is monitoring her and will recommend a pacemaker if needed. If one is necessary, 89 years old is not too old to put in a pacemaker.

PVCs are very common and do not usually indicate disease in the heart, although they are more common in people with heart disease, especially poor blood flow to the heart. Premature ventricular contractions themselves seldom need treatment.

Email questions to ToYourGoodHealth@med.cornell.edu.

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By Craig Hlavaty, Chron.com / Houston Chronicle

This weekend the Houston Chronicle told the story of a Houston child named Sebastian Romero who has the same condition as the late David Vetter (above) did. Vetter, dubbed "The Bubble Boy", died in 1984 but lessons from his life are helping keep Romero alive.

Click through to see more photos of the boy who lived in a bubble his whole life in Houston...

This weekend the Houston Chronicle told the story of a Houston child named Sebastian Romero who has the same condition as the late David Vetter (above) did. Vetter,

David Vetter was born in 1971 at Texas Children's Hospital with severe combined immunodeficiency.

David Vetter was born in 1971 at Texas Children's Hospital with severe combined immunodeficiency.

Dr. William Shearer visits with his patient, "Bubble Boy" David Vetter, at Texas Children's Hospital in 1979. David died in 1984 at age 12.

Dr. William Shearer visits with his patient, "Bubble Boy" David Vetter, at Texas Children's Hospital in 1979. David died in 1984 at age 12.

David's disorder left him no natural immunities against disease. He died in 1984.

David's disorder left him no natural immunities against disease. He died in 1984.

David Vetter, the "Bubble Boy," in 1983 at age 12.

David Vetter, the "Bubble Boy," in 1983 at age 12.

David Vetter, the boy without an immune system, was placed in a sterile bubble within seconds of his birth in September 1971.

David Vetter, the boy without an immune system, was placed in a sterile bubble within seconds of his birth in September 1971.

04/01/1974 - David the Bubble Boy

04/01/1974 - David the Bubble Boy

David wears a NASA-designed "spacesuit" on his first walk outside of his plastic sterile environment.

David wears a NASA-designed "spacesuit" on his first walk outside of his plastic sterile environment.

Carol Ann Demaret, mother of "Bubble Boy" David Vetter, and his physician, Dr. William Shearer, think the movie "Bubble Boy" makes fun of the disease that killed David.

Carol Ann Demaret, mother of "Bubble Boy" David Vetter, and his physician, Dr. William Shearer, think the movie "Bubble Boy" makes fun of the disease that killed David.

November 4, 1977: Boy out of 'bubble' (David Vetter - Bubble Boy). C

November 4, 1977: Boy out of 'bubble' (David Vetter - Bubble Boy). C

Houston Chronicle section front - September 22, 1974 - Section 2, Page 1. 3-Year-Old David Laughs and Cries in Germ-Free, Bubble Environment (David Vetter - Bubble Boy)

Houston Chronicle section front - September 22, 1974 - Section 2, Page 1. 3-Year-Old David Laughs and Cries in Germ-Free, Bubble Environment (David Vetter - Bubble Boy)

Legacy of Houston's first 'Bubble Boy' helping children born decades later

Though he only lived for 12 years, the life of Houston's David Vetter captivated the public as he grew up isolated from germs and human touch due to a rare, inherited condition calledSevere Combined Immunodeficiency Disorder, or SCID.

This weekend HoustonChronicle.com told the story of a Houston child named Sebastian Romero who suffers from the same condition.

Vetter lacked the white blood cells that fight infection, meaning any germ was a potential killer. When he was born in 1971, there was no treatment. The "Star Wars"-loving kid died in February 1984after doctors attempted an experimental bone marrow transplant.

PREVIOUS:The 'boy in the bubble' who captivated the world

Story continues below...

A TV movie starring John Travolta partially based on Vetter's story was released in 1976, but it took many liberties with his situation. Hollywood has also attempted to turn bubble boy cases into comedy with 2001's "Bubble Boy" starring Jake Gyllenhaal and a 1992 episode of Seinfeld.

Born in February, the cute, chubby-faced Romero has decades of medical research on his side that Vetter did not. But Romero isn't completely out of the woods, as reporter Mike Hixenbaugh writes on HoustonChronicle.com. His family has a hard road ahead of them. SCID is still a very scary condition in any decade, but the doctors at Texas Children's Hospital are calling on lessons from 33 years ago to help save the boy's life.

PREVIOUS:'Bubble boy' medical legacy lives on years after death

Over the past few years, Texas Children's has treated several SCID babies, and most had been cured through bone marrow or stem cell transplants.

After a nationwide search, no matching donor could be found for Sebastian. Texas Children's instead proposed giving a stem cell transplant from a half-matching family member, the same treatment that failed to cure David more than 30 years ago.

If Sebastian is going to survive, it will be his mother's stem cells and lessons from the Bubble Boy that will save him.

The Romero family is currently holding an online fundraiser to help them pay for some of the expenses related to Sebastian's ongoing care.

With additional reporting byMike Hixenbaugh

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BURR RIDGE, Ill., June 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Win L. Chiou, a world-renowned authority in pharmacokinetics, an expert in dermatology and a former FDA consultant, has recently published a commentary questioning some widely accepted aging and anti-aging theories in the last century and postulated his new aging theories and anti-aging strategies in The Scientific Pages of Dermatology (TSPD). Chiou said this may have many very important implications and applications in future aging and anti-aging research. This and his other recent breakthroughs are disclosed.

Classical Cumulative Oxidative Stress/Accelerated Aging Theories QuestionedSurprisingly, these important classical theories were not supported by results from his critical analyses of reported aging data of human hearts and skin from a large number of normal subjects over many decades of lifespan. Some implications are: Generally, our skin and heart actually don't age faster as we get older as predicted from these accelerated aging theories. Also, we may have over-emphasized the use of purified anti-oxidants in dietary supplements to combat aging. This is because oxidative stress has been traditionally regarded as the culprit of our aging.

Classical Photoaging Theory Questioned: Intrinsic Aging as Root CauseThe photoaging theory claims that exposure to sunlight contributes about 80% of our skin aging. Chiou astoundingly found that sun exposure had no noticeable effects on the aging of skin collagen and superficial capillaries in their lifetime. Furthermore, age spots, commonly assumed to result from photoaging, were frequently found to occur on thighs, forearms and backs in seniors that were rarely exposed to sunlight. Chiou asked: Do we need to re-evaluate general recommendations that we should wear sunscreens as a daily ritual when we go outdoors? How much SPF number do we really need? This is especially significant because exposure to sunlight has many important health benefits such as reducing blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes, and increasing the immune system and vitamin D synthesis. These benefits are known to far outweigh the risks such as skin cancer.

New Cardiac-Output-Reduction Aging Theory: Utmost Importance of Cellular Nutrients in Determining Cellular/Tissue Aging

Chiou postulated a new theory that since our heart pumps nutrient-carrying blood to various organs/tissues to sustain their vitality, therefore, cardiac output should be closely related to our life expectancy and general health. Chiou said that we age mainly because our cardiac output decreases and cellular levels of nutrients in peripheral tissues also decrease with age. Cardiac output peaks at about age 12. By age 40 and 80, it can decrease very significantly by 30% and 49% respectively. Hence, Chiou postulated that one effective approach to combat body aging and to increase longevity is to increase cardiac output through stem-cell rejuvenation and to increase tissue nutrients. In other words, aging is reversible!!

New Theories for Formation of Wrinkles and Age Spots: Intrinsic Aging as Root CausesFor the first time, Chiou theorized that formation of wrinkles in aged adults results from body's defense mechanism in order to reduce effective surface area for minimizing environmental assaults. And the formation of age spots mainly results from birth defects and later acquired injuries in superficial capillaries that nourish the skin. Hence these disorders are generally first initiated by intrinsic aging. Sunlight may hasten the above problems. Chiou noted that young children and youths with healthy skin may stay outdoors unprotected daily for months or years without developing age spots or wrinkles.

New Strategy to Combat and Reverse Skin Aging: Stem-Cell RejuvenationJust as water can revitalize a dry wilted flower, an aging-reversing phenomenon, Chiou has developed a unique proprietary body-natural (ingredients being natural in our body) nutritional serum, Eternal Spring Serum (ESS), to be topically applied daily to rejuvenate our skin. Surprisingly, the firming and tightening effects are almost universally observed in all users. A stunning example is shown in his wife, Linda Chiou, who has used the product for more than 10 years and rarely used sunscreens. At age 75, her skin seems much better than many others 25 to 35 years younger (Figure 1). Many friends noticed her skin-age-reversing phenomenon. It is reasoned that the ESS must work via rejuvenation of stem or progenitor cells in the skin. Currently, skin reversal is considered by dermatologists as impossible to achieve. Therefore, the ESS represents a historical breakthrough in combating skin aging.

Growth Acceleration and Regeneration of Human Nails: Stem-Cell RejuvenationLiquid preparations containing body-natural nutrients have been shown to quickly accelerate nail growth or to regenerate new nails after nail injury in numerous subjects. This may be the first of its kind ever reported (patent pending). Such effects are also postulated to be due to stem-cell/progenitor cell rejuvenation. Interestingly, this approach also helps grow new hair on Dr. Chiou's decades-old baldhead.

Dr. Chiou is an editor for TSPD, and is organizing a Special Issue on "Aging and Anti-Aging". He was a former university professor for 36 years. Dr. Chiou is currently President of Winlind Skincare LLC and Chiou Consulting Inc. His detailed biography is available at the TSPD website. For inquiries or licensing, Dr. Chiou can be reached at 163879@email4pr.com.

Media Contact: Win Chiou163879@email4pr.com 630-861-0433

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/major-breakthroughs-in-aging-theories-and-anti-aging-strategies-via-stem-cell-rejuvenation-in-humans-300472905.html

SOURCE Dr. Win L. Chiou

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Major Breakthroughs in Aging Theories and Anti-Aging Strategies via Stem-Cell Rejuvenation in Humans - PR Newswire (press release)

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Major Breakthroughs in Aging Theories and Anti-Aging Strategies via Stem-Cell Rejuvenation in Humans – PR Newswire (press release) | June 13th, 2017

Oper Technology, a Hong Kong biotechnology start-up, has pioneered what it claims is a world first in stem cell treatment that it says could potentially help millions of patients suffering from Alzheimers and Parkinsons diseases.

The business was co-founded by Hong Kong Baptist Universitys Professor Ken Yung, who specialises in neurobiology and neurological diseases in the universitys biology department.

He and his team has now developed a method of harvesting neural stem cells from the brains of live subjects using specially developed nanoparticles.

The exploration of using stem cells to repair damaged neural cells is not a new concept. Scientists in the US and elsewhere have experimented using stem cells from fat and skin, developing them into neural cells.

But Yung claims his team is the first to successfully harvest stem cells directly from the brain and re-inject the developed neural cells back into a live subject, thereby artificially regenerating any cells which have died off, due to neurological diseases from neural stem cells themselves.

Stem cells have the potential to develop into different types of cells with specialised functions.

The nanoparticles which are made of a type of iron oxide work like magnets to attract the stem cells within the brain.

Yung said these can then be developed into more specific neural cells and re-injected into the brain to replace damaged cells caused by diseases such as Alzheimers and Parkinsons, where neurons in the patients brains progressively die off with time.

He suggests the treatment could benefit almost 100 million patients around the world, who suffer from neurodegenerative diseases, including strokes.

China alone has the largest population of people with dementia, with an estimated 23.3 million now projected to suffer from the condition by 2030, according to the World Health Organisation.

Yung co-founded Oper Technology and serves as its chairman.

The company is being developed under Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Incu-Bio programme, which provides select biotechnology start-ups with laboratory and support services, and ultimately it aims to commercialise its medical technology.

If you put the [developed] cells in a different environment from where the [stem cells are harvested], there might be [misdirected] growth in an uncontrolled environment, said Yung.

We want to use neural cells to repair neural cells, and since the stem cells and re-injected neural cells are from the same micro-environment, there will not be uncontrollable growth.

The method has proven to be very successful when tested on rats, especially in cases of Parkinsons, according to Yung, who suggested the method could eventually become an ultimate treatment for the disease.

Furthermore, the risks of this treatment are similar to what is currently on the market today, he added.

The treatment could also help to treat early-stage Alzheimers patients, slowing down or even halting the degeneration process, although Yung acknowledged that its effectiveness in treating terminal stage patients may be limited since it would be difficult to regenerate enough neural cells when patients brains have shrunk due to the condition.

While animals subjected to the treatment displayed an improvement in neural function following the re-injection, the team has yet to start on clinical trials as such cell therapy is still nascent and largely unregulated in Hong Kong.

Oper Technology is currently seeking investment and often sets up booths at conferences such as last weeks EmTech Hong Kong conference, which focuses on innovation and emerging technologies.

Yung hopes to raise enough funds to begin clinical trials in Australia in the near future, where autologous cell therapies are legal and thus provides an ideal environment for clinical trials.

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Hong Kong biotech start-up claims world first in stem cell treatment of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases - South China Morning Post

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Hong Kong biotech start-up claims world first in stem cell treatment of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases – South China Morning Post | June 13th, 2017

Eva Feldman is stepping down as director of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute at the University of Michigan, but at the age of 65, she has no intention of retiring.

She was the founding director of the institute created with tens of millions of dollars from mall mogul A. Alfred Taubman to fund research into intractable diseases like Alzheimer's, ALS and diabetes and ran it for 10 years. It is time, she says, for her next, but not necessarily last, 10-year plan.

"I birthed a baby and it's grown to be 10. It's a tweener, now, and ready for someone else to take it to adolescence," she told Crain's, following a meeting she had with one of the finalists of a national search to replace her.

Feldman said she expects a replacement to be named by the end of June.

"We started with four people, and now we have more than 200 investigators," she said. "We're strongly established, very robust. We have the best scientist-clinicians at the university. It's time for the next director to take over. There are other things I want to do, now. This takes up a lot of time, and I want to spend more time on my own research."

Feldman will continue to run the ALS Clinic at UM. Each Tuesday, she and a small staff diagnose and treat patients with amytrophic lateral sclerosis, sometimes known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The Russell N. DeJong Professor of Neurology at the U-M Medical School, she will also continue to run her own 30-scientist laboratory, the Program for Neurology Research & Discovery.

She said her new 10-year plan has three major goals.

This would be the last trial before the procedure is approved.

As soon as Feldman was done enumerating those goals, she enumerated two more.

She wants to help get more women into research positions at major universities. "More women than men graduate from the medical school at Michigan, but there are just a blip of women who are full professors," she said.

Last Wednesday, she and the Taubman Institute hosted a symposium called "Strategies to Empower Women to Achieve Academic Success," with keynote speakers on gender equality in academic medicine and a panel discussion on how to use negotiation and networking skills for career advancement.

And she wants to raise the $5 million it will take to fund the large-animal studies she needs to do before she can launch FDA human trials using embryonic stem cells to treat Alzheimer's. She said stem-cell trials with mice with dementia have been promising.

Researchers injected two groups of Alzheimer's mice, one group with a saline solution to serve as a control, the other with stem cells. Both of those groups and a group of healthy mice were then put through three tests of cognition, including one that required finding a platform hidden in a pool of water.

Previously, both sets of Alzheimer's mice flunked the cognition tests. After the stem-cell injections, the Alzheimer's mice injected with cells performed the tests as well as healthy mice. The Alzheimer's mice injected with saline solution flunked the tests.

"I am persistent. I will get that funded," she said.

Feldman took a sabbatical this spring to go to Australia, where she helped the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne set up a neuropathy-screening program for children with diabetes, which dovetails with one of her clinical trials treating neuropathy in children. And in September she heads to Chennai, India, to set up a similar program at a hospital there.

Neuropathy is a painful condition resulting from the nerve damage that diabetes can cause.

Feldman has published more than 350 peer-reviewed articles, 60 book chapters and three books and has had continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health for more than 20 years, including 12 current grants totaling about $5.5 million.

She is past president of the Peripheral Nerve Society and served as president of the American Neurological Association from 2011 to 2013, the group's third woman president in 130 years. Last June, she was named among the 100 most influential women in Michigan by Crain's.

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Eva Feldman: Stepping down, not stopping - Crain's Detroit Business

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Eva Feldman: Stepping down, not stopping – Crain’s Detroit Business | June 12th, 2017

When President Donald Trump urged the biopharmaceutical industry to reduce the price of new medicines and to increase its manufacturing in the United States, many took it as a threat.

We believe its a call to action. Americas ingenuity in biomedical research is unsurpassed. However, our country is losing out to other nations in the fastest growing biotechnology sector, called regenerative medicine: harnessing the capacity of our cells to repair and restore health and sustain well-being.

Second place is not an option. The regenerative medicine market is growing about 21 percent a year and is expected to be worth over $350 billion by 2050. Today, the U.S. regenerative medicine sector is generating $3.6 billion in revenues and has produced 14,000 jobs. By 2050, the industry could create nearly a million new jobs nationwide.

Regenerative medicine will also reduce the cost of disease. Such therapies will replace drugs, devices, and surgery, saving lives, increasing productivity, and reducing the cost of care. This transformation will add trillions in value to our economy.

Finally, regenerative medicine will also make America more secure. Our nation still lacks the ability to quickly and cheaply mass produce vaccines, antidotes, and cell therapies to counter pandemics and bioterrorism. Our fighting forces need reliable sources of these countermeasures and deserve immediate access to treatments that give them back their lives. We shouldnt outsource the safety and well-being of our nation and our Armed Forces to other countries.

To regain leadership in regenerative medicine, U.S. firms dont need government loans, tax credits or massive de-regulation. Instead, it needs the opportunity to invest in reducing the time and cost of manufacturing cellular therapies. To the extent that regenerative medicine is curative it must be made available at vaccine like prices. At present, only a handful of people can afford such treatments.

China and Japan are now in forefront of reducing the cost of producing stem cells, tissue, and other products with restorative biological properties. As a result, they are attracting more capital and forming more new companies than the U.S.

In 2014 Japan became the first country in the world to adopt an expedited approval system specifically for regenerative medical products and to allow outsourced cell culturing. Two products were approved under the new system within a year of its adoption.

By contrast, the Food and Drug Administration regulates any use of manufactured stem cells as equally risky without regard to prior use, health benefit, or therapeutic potential. Indeed, many of the most common stem cell therapies including bone marrow transplants and blood transfusions would require 10 years of FDA review if they were brought to market today.

The problem isnt over-regulation. Its outdated regulation. Safety checks and benchmarks for cell manufacturing should be based on real world evidence of past applications. Regulation should focus on the specific potential side effects for each specific potential use. In this regard, we agree with incoming FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, who has noted, Expediting the development of these novel and transformative technologies like gene- and cell-based therapies doesnt necessarily mean lowering the standard for approval, as I believe other countries have done. But it does mean having a framework thats crafted to deal with the unique hypothetical risks that these products pose.

In fact, the United States has the best regenerative medicine manufacturing technology in the world. But it is literally sitting unused in warehouses.

For example, under the Accelerated Manufacture of Pharmaceuticals program, private companies partnered with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop mobile cell and tissue manufacturing plants that can be set up almost anywhere. The facilities can produce cells and tissues at a fraction of the current cost. These mobile factories make real-time production of vaccines and biologics for potential bioterrorist threats and pandemics possible. They are also low-cost, high-tech platforms for experimental evaluation of any type of regenerative medicine.

AMPs are operating in Indonesia, Singapore, China, and Japan where cell products including vaccines are being mass produced. Not a single AMP is being used in the United States because of outdated regulations.

To remove this regulatory obstacle, the Trump administration should establish a separate regenerative medicine pathway. This pathway, which could be developed by DARPA, FDA, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, would develop regulatory standards for the safe manufacturing and testing of development of regenerative products to treat battlefield related traumas such as traumatic brain injury, life-threatening limb damage, and drug-resistant pathogens.

The focus on the conditions and circumstances unique to war or counter-terrorism is both appropriate and strategic. After World War II, Franklin Roosevelt directed that the scientific and entrepreneurial talents used to achieve ramp up war-time production of penicillin and blood plasma be used in the days of peace ahead for the improvement of the national health, the creation of new enterprises bringing new jobs, and the betterment of the national standard of living.

What was created exceeded that vision. The cooperative efforts to achieve mass production of penicillin and blood plasma inspired and supported the creation of industries that employ millions of people today.

Similarly,developing an affordable source of cell therapies to heal our fighting forces and protect the homeland will yield a wide array of affordable technologies and cures that will produce, in FDRs words, a fuller and more fruitful employment and a fuller and more fruitful life. Simply put, by making the manufacture of regenerative medicine affordable can help make America great.

Robert Hariri is CEO of Celularity. Robert Goldberg is vice president of Center for Medicine in the Public Interest.

Morning Consult welcomes op-ed submissions on policy, politics and business strategy in our coverage areas. Updated submission guidelines can be foundhere.

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Regenerative Medicine Can Help Make America Great - Morning Consult

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Regenerative Medicine Can Help Make America Great – Morning Consult | June 12th, 2017

Panchwati Tower on Harmu Road in Ranchi where the stem cell bank is expected to come up. (Hardeep Singh)

In what may be a game-changer for healthcare in Jharkhand, a group of doctors from Ranchi have teamed up with a Mumbai-based pioneering research firm to plan the first stem cell bank of eastern India in the state capital.

Stem cells are undifferentiated biological cells that can differentiate into specialised cells and divide to produce more stem cells. They can be transplanted routinely to treat a variety of blood and bone marrow diseases, including cancer and immune disorders, while extensive research is underway on their potential to cure neurological and muscular problems.

In short, a stem cell bank in Ranchi will allow residents to store their embryonic or adult stem cells, which can be accessed anytime to treat ailing blood relatives.

Dr Deepak Verma, a senior orthopaedic consultant in the city specialising in difficult trauma surgery, said if everything went according to plan, the stem cell bank was expected to debut at Panchwati Tower on Harmu Road in another three to six months.

Dr Verma, along with pathologist Dr Sangita Agrawal and orthopaedic surgeon Dr S.N. Yadav, will form the core team of the Rs 6.5-crore facility, which will be set up in association with stem cell banking company ReeLabs, Mumbai.

"Ranchi will boast the fifth stem cell bank in India after Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Ahmedabad. It will be first such facility in eastern India. We plan to establish a stem cell treatment centre and a cancer immunotherapy centre to turn Ranchi into a healthcare destination," Dr Verma told this newspaper on Sunday.

While the bank will sprawl over an area of 5,000sqft, another 6,000sqft will be reserved for the therapy centres.

Elaborating on the banking system, the doctor said stem cells would be stored in cryogenic vials at minus 176 degrees and liquid nitrogen would be used to acquire the very low temperatures.

"People wishing to use the stem bank service will have to open an account. The bank will then collect stem cells from different sources such as placenta, amniotic sac, amniotic fluid, umbilical cord blood and cord tissue, menstrual blood, dental pulp, bone marrow and peripheral blood," Dr Verma said.

To deposit the stem cells, one may have to pay Rs 45,000 to Rs 2 lakh, depending on the package chosen.

"Those who will deposit stem cells can access the same for blood relatives suffering from 110 listed diseases that cannot be treated using conservative medicines," the doctor said, adding that stem cell therapy could help in cases of leukemia, thalassemia, Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, diabetes and cirrhosis of liver, among others.

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Bank on stem cells, gift a life - Calcutta Telegraph

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Bank on stem cells, gift a life – Calcutta Telegraph | June 11th, 2017

Across Utah County, there are people waiting for donations, whether it is a needed organ, bone marrow or blood that will save their lives. Others have given these life-saving donations to complete strangers. Gift of Life highlights those involved in the medical donation process.

They found a perfect match for Robyn Marchant on a bone marrow registry. Robyn, a Santaquin mom with leukemia, needed a stem cell transplant if she wanted to live.

But they were never able to get ahold of the match.

That was hard, Robyn said, sitting on a couch in the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City, next to a window that doesnt open and wearing a paisley headscarf. That was in March, at the beginning of my search.

There were two 9/10 matches on the Be The Match bone marrow registry. Doctors preferred her brothers blood work, and they decided to do the transplant with his half match. Its their best option, even if it isnt ideal.

But a lack of a match didnt stop Robyns family from hosting six drives, including ones in Provo and Spanish Fork, and adding more than 1,200 names to the bone marrow registry. They suspect theres more who have registered to Be the Match because of her, but havent used Robyns name as the promo code to link it to her name.

They might not be able to help my daughter, but I am praying there is somebody in the country who is doing the same thing to help my girl, said Shelly Bills, Robyns mother who has organized registration drives.

If Robyns transplant doesnt take, shell need another one.

And even if she doesnt need another donor from the registry, theyre hoping the names theyve added will save someone elses life.

Theres a lot of people who have never heard of the Be the Match Registry, which in all honesty we have never heard about until this happened, and now our whole town down in Santaquin knows about it, said Kevin, Robyns husband.

Diagnosis

Robyn, mom to 9-year-old Kassidy, 6-year-old Korbin, 4-year-old McKinley and 1-year-old McKellan, is a busy woman who served as a former Relief Society president for her ward in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

She started to feel really tired at the end of January and brushed it off as being worn out from having a baby. Things started to get worse to the point where shed feel like she was going to pass out when she climbed up the stairs.

It was originally thought to be anemia, but that treatment wasnt changing anything. Then her spleen started to ache.

Kevin, a pharmacist, told Robyns doctor he suspected his wife had leukemia.

Nobody expects a 31-year-old mom of four kids to get cancer, Robyn said. We were all just so overwhelmed.

She didnt ask for percentages, and only knew she wasnt going to live without a stem cell transplant.

As the oldest, Kassidy started to piece things together. The kids, who knew a neighborhood child who died after being diagnosed with cancer, were devastated.

Our kids immediately associate cancer with death, which made it hard, Kevin said.

According to Be the Match, 70 percent of patients who need a bone marrow transplant dont have a fully matched donor in their family, and 14,000 patients a year will need a transplant for someone outside their family.

For Robyn, it wasnt supposed to be hard to find someone.

The doctors at the beginning said we wont have trouble finding you a match, Robyn said. Youre Caucasian, female, of western descent, theres tons of people out there. Well find you a match. But apparently Im one in a million because we just couldnt find one.

Finding a match

Bills woke up in the middle of the night a few weeks after Robyns diagnosis knowing she had to do something.

Even though they dont plan to hold another registration drive for a while, Bills is still handing out registration kits, and a friend started the hashtag #SwabbinForRobyn.

My mind keeps saying people are so willing, they just dont know, they dont know there is something they can do to save a life, Bills said.

Shes also encouraging people already on the registry to update their contact information so another family doesnt have the same experience theyve had.

Signing up for the registry is quick process that requires a cheek swab to add a donors tissue type to the registry. Once signed up, they will remain on the registry until they are 61 or request to be removed.

Registration can be done online at Join.BeTheMatch.org. To link the registration to Robyns name, use the promo code Robyn.

Potential donors have to be between the ages of 18 and 44 and willing to donate to any patient in need.

If a match is made, there are two ways to donate. One way is through a peripheral blood stem cell donation, a nonsurgical outpatient procedure. The other is a marrow donation, a surgical, outpatient procedure that is performed in an operating room.

Only a small percentage of people on the registry will ever be called to be a match.

As she showed up to a registration drive held in a Brigham Young University LDS stake (against advice to stay away because of her compromised immune system), Robyn was touched to see hundreds of people sign up for the registry.

She didnt know a single one of them.

These kids didnt have a clue who I was, but they were willing to do something, Robyn said.

Whats next

Robyn received her brothers transplant at the end of May. Since then, shes had side effects like diarrhea, mouth sores down her throat, insomnia and nausea.

Shell be in the hospital for a couple more weeks. After that, if the transplant isnt rejected, shell have to be constantly monitored by an adult for 100 days. If all goes well, that should be it.

Her hospital room is filled with pictures of her family and has a large window that looks out to the mountain. But for now, shes not supposed to leave the unit.

Lots of pokes and prods and illnesses, I can handle that, Robyn said. But being away from my kids is hard.

She video chats with her kids at least twice a day and reads to them from the Harry Potter books before bedtime.

Shes learning to cross-stitch. Her current project, a quote from Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, reminds them that happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.

Kevin is getting help taking care of the kids from family. On weekends, they make the drive up to Salt Lake City to visit Robyn.

For now, theyre focusing on staying positive.

We are trading 2017 so we can have the rest of our lives with her, Kevin said.

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Gift of Life: Santaquin mom searching for a bone marrow match adds 1200 names to registry - Daily Herald

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Gift of Life: Santaquin mom searching for a bone marrow match adds 1200 names to registry – Daily Herald | June 11th, 2017

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Like I have consistently mentioned on many of my previous articles, the unlimited capacities of autologous stem cells and platelets never ceases to amaze me.

While at our StemCell Miami Institute (one of the few in the world) we specialize in treating orthopedic related illnesses like: osteoarthritis of the knee, hip, shoulder and issues related to the spine, there are times when we also try to help patients in need of treatments that are outside of the true realm of our medical specialty. Such is the case with Denisse, a close family friend and owner of a busy Nicaraguan restaurant in the city of Doral, where she unfortunately poured (by accident) a pot of hot oil all over the back of her legs, causing her a painful second degree type burn.

Two weeks ago, Denisse called us to see if we could do something to help her with her burn, since she had heard about the tremendous success of many of our stem cell procedures. While she was well aware that we specialized in orthopedic related problems, she hoped that we could help her to expedite the healing process, since the treatment that she initially received at the hospital emergency room (with sulfadiazine), had done little to improve her serious burn and she was also suffering from a severe pain in the affected area.

While this was theoretically in no way our specialty, we knew that cells have a great capacity to heal skin related issues. In addition, platelets have shown tremendous success in accelerating the scarring/curative process in healing wounds, ulcers and also burns. As a matter of fact, I treated a paralytic patient several years ago who was living in a nursing home in order to try and help with an ulcer she had developed in her leg and amazingly, her ulcer/wound completely healed in only one month after the treatment we conducted on her!

So after we discussed the recommended treatment with Denisse and she agreed to move forward with our procedure we created a gelatin like substance from her own plasma and combined it with growth factors (also from her same blood). We then covered the wounded skin area (about the size of a basketball behind her knees) and we initially planned to cover her wound with this gelatin substance every 72 hours.

On the second treatment, we were truly astonished on how well the wound/burn had healed (almost 50 percent improvement) and Denisse mentioned that ever since the first application her pain had subsided tremendously. By the third treatment, we were stunned by how her wound had healed almost 100 percent and we consequently decided to stop the treatment altogether, since her burn had basically already disappeared.

This is another classic example of the unlimited power of Regenerative Medicine. In this particular case, being successful at healing a severe second degree type burn by using the patients own PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma). Consequently, this type of treatment should be considered/implemented at hospital ERs and burn centers around the globe. Note that we would love the opportunity to teach doctors and nurses, hopefully in the future, this innovative treatment/technique, so they can in turn help other patients, just like we helped our friend Denisse. Furthermore, we are very happy to report that Denisse has been able to return to work at her busy restaurant and her burn has almost completely diminished!

So if you, a friend or any family members are interested in receiving one of these innovative stem cell or PRP procedures, please call us at 305-598-7777. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.stemcellmia.com(available in both English & Spanish) and you can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and on our YouTube channel. Dr. Castellanos would be happy to address any of your specific questions or concerns via his email: stemdoc305@gmail.com.

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Using Stem Cells to Heal Burns - Miami's Community Newspapers

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Using Stem Cells to Heal Burns – Miami’s Community Newspapers | June 11th, 2017

Scores of people living with multiple sclerosis have put themselves forward for clinical trials as part of a Cambridge scientists bid to develop a treatment to cure the disease.

MS, an auto-immune condition which affects 2.3 million people around the world, attacks cells in the brain and the spinal cord, causing an array of physical and mental side effects including blindness and muscle weakness.

At the moment theres no cure, but Cambridge scientist Su Metcalfe and her company, LIFNano, hope to change that.

On Sunday the News told how Su has married one of the bodys cleverest functions with some cutting-edge technology. The natural side of the equation is provided by a stem cell particle called a LIF.

Su said: I discovered a small binary switch, controlled by a LIF, which regulates inside the immune cell itself. LIF is able to control the cell to ensure it doesnt attack your own body but then releases the attack when needed.

That LIF, in addition to regulating and protecting us against attack, also plays a major role in keeping the brain and spinal cord healthy. 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.

So I thought, this is fantastic. We can treat auto-immune disease, and weve got something to treat MS, which attacks both the brain and the spinal cord. So you have a double whammy that can stop and reverse the auto-immunity, and also repair the damage caused in the brain.

Sus company LIFNano has already attracted two major funding awards, from drug firm Merck and the Governments Innovate UK agency.

The company hopes to attract more investment, with the aim of starting clinical trials in 2020.

Off the back of the article regarding Sus work, people commented in their droves offering to trial Dr Metcalfes treatment, which is being touted as a possible cure.

Many also shared their experiences of living with MS.

James Stokes, 52 from Reading, was just one of many to comment on our story.

He told the News : I was diagnosed with MS on my 18th birthday of all days, but I wasnt told then that it was MS.

I had a big attack and was put in hospital; I lost my sight and couldnt speak or walk.

Even then I still wasnt officially told it was MS until a few years later.

About 10 years ago, things started to go downhill and I found myself basically housebound; I can still walk but not a great distance.

I use a walking stick, and have to use a wheelchair if Im going long distances.

MS has robbed me of my life, but when I saw this article there was a glimmer of hope.

Id love to know more about it [the process] and would be willing to take part in clinical trials.

If they could reverse my MS that would mean everything. At the moment, I feel as if Ive been given a life sentence but with no parole.

If a cure for MS is found, I could get a new lease of life and a lot more hope.

Many others also commented on the story regarding Sus work.

Debbie Brown wrote: This gives me some hope that things will improve in my lifetime. Diagnosed with RRMS in 2000. Very interested in registering for a clinical trial.

Amy Keighley said: My father was diagnosed with MS in 1996. He has been on several medications and is currently being treated by Dr Tornatori at Georgetown University Medical Center.

He fights every day and lives life to the fullest. He and my mother have been together since 1950. They were 15 years old. They are both retired from operating a jewellery store together for 23 years.

They try to travel every month and my dad's spirits remain high. I would like to ask that my dad be considered for the clinical trial.

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Patients volunteer for pioneering treatment by Cambridge scientist on verge of curing multiple sclerosis - Cambridge News

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Patients volunteer for pioneering treatment by Cambridge scientist on verge of curing multiple sclerosis – Cambridge News | June 10th, 2017

Updated June 09, 2017 10:59:15

Leukaemia patient Jake Cooper, 14, is desperately searching for the cure to his cancer, but his hopes of a life-saving fix now rest with strangers, not scientists.

Jake has chronic myeloid leukaemia and as his condition progresses will need a bone marrow transplant.

So why, when there are 29 million accessible donors on worldwide bone marrow registries, do so many patients, including Jake, struggle to find a match?

The answer is ethnicity, where your cultural background can turn your chance of survival into a desperate needle-in-a-haystack search.

Bone marrow transplants, sometimes called stem cell transplants, can be used to treat patients with cancers such as leukaemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma.

But first a suitable donor needs to be found and that in itself can be a months or years-long process, one that usually starts with a patient's siblings, Red Cross bone marrow donor centre operations manager Paul Berghofer said.

"There's a one-in-four chance that [any one] sibling will be a match," he said.

While those odds aren't bad, and obviously improve if you're from a big family, they don't always deliver a match.

Then, the search broadens to the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry and beyond that, to a global registry, but for many patients these offer little hope.

While donors of north-west European backgrounds are over-represented on the registries, other ethnic groups are desperately under-represented.

"The chance of finding you a matched donor who is not related to you is best with people of a similar ethnic background," Mr Berghofer said.

The process wasn't drawn out but there were a bunch of general health check-ups, the initial typing and there was a discussion about the process involved.

I was told I could stop anytime up until a point of no return, I think a week or two before the transplant. You can't pull out in the last week because the [recipient] will almost certainly die.

Part of the workup is self-administering a course of an artificial hormone for five days into the flesh of my stomach. By day four or five, everything ached - like growing pains or shin splints.

The procedure itself was sitting in a chair, sticking my arms out by my side and local anaesthetic [being injected] in the crook of both elbows. To prevent damaging blood and increase the flows, they use big needles, they were ridiculous. That's why you have the anaesthetic!

Then I just lay in a chair and listened to music for four hours.

The process wasn't painful or bad, just uncomfortable and a little bit cold.

I don't regret it at all, I'd definitely do it again - it helped someone and it might be their only chance.

For Jake, whose dad is Samoan and German, and his mum Australian and British, his "incredibly rare" DNA means, despite monthly checks of the global registry, there is no bone marrow match available to tackle the "monster" in his body.

"The condition is bad enough but if it came to him [urgently] needing the transplant, I'd have to say to him, 'there's nothing I can do, we don't have a match'," his mum Renee Cooper said.

Complicating Jake's search is the fact Samoa does not have its own bone marrow registry, meaning thousands of potential matches are missed.

"It drives me crazy, there's not a day I don't think about it that someone is out there [possibly] with the cure," she said.

"The most frustrating part is I could be walking past them in a shopping centre and not even know."

Ms Cooper started Jake's Quest for a Cure on Facebook, a page she hoped would be shared to spread Jake's search around the world.

She said a lack of awareness of the registry and misinformation about the donation process were hurting patients' chances of a cure.

"There are no advertisements on bone marrow, there's no education around it in schools the way there is with organ donation," she said.

"People hear bone marrow and they think, 'oh my God, they're cutting my bones out'. People just have no idea at all."

Mr Berghofer said in 80 per cent of cases, the donation process was done as a peripheral blood stem cell collection which was not dissimilar to donating blood.

"The donor gets a needle in one arm, the blood goes through the apheresis machine and filters off blood stem cells and returns the rest of the blood back into their other arm," he said.

Pamela Bousejean, founder of Ur the Cure, an organisation striving to boost ethnic diversity on bone marrow registries, said potential donors were "slipping through our fingers everyday".

"People don't even know the bone marrow registry exists and how easy it is to donate stem cells if you're called up. You're saving a life doing something so simple," she said.

Ms Bousejean launched her campaign for a more representative registry after her own search for a donor, when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in 2010.

After chemotherapy and radiation treatments failed, she was told her "last chance" was to have a stem cell transplant.

"But they also told me it was going to be difficult to find me a match because of my Lebanese background," she said.

"That was really hard to hear."

For the next six months while his sister waited for a life-saving match, Ms Bousejean's brother took matters into his own hands, launching a social media campaign to find a donor.

"You're stuck in this limbo state," Ms Bousejean said.

"You know the cure to my cancer is out there in someone else's body."

In many ways, the campaign was successful raising awareness of the need for ethnic diversity on the Australian and international bone marrow registries but it didn't deliver the adult match she had been hoping for.

Instead, a "plan b" treatment in the form of a cord-blood donation gave the marketing professional her cure and she went into remission in 2012.

Now, she is on a mission to improve education programs targeted at ethnic and Indigenous communities and boost opportunities to recruit ethnically diverse bone marrow donors.

"We can make some small changes that would make a big difference," she said.

Topics: blood, diseases-and-disorders, leukaemia, perth-6000, australia

First posted June 09, 2017 06:00:36

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Bone marrow transplants: When your heritage leads to a needle-in ... - ABC Online

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Bone marrow transplants: When your heritage leads to a needle-in … – ABC Online | June 10th, 2017

Last Updated On 10 June,201705:37 pm

Stem cells can be harvested from certain parts of the human body.

(Online) - The Lipogems technology has great promise, but experts say itll take time to assess how successful the new procedure isThe technology is ideal for patients with certain orthopedic conditions, such as painful joints including the knee, ankle, or shoulder with limited range of motion. Additionally, it can be used in soft tissue defects located in tendons, ligaments, and/or muscles to improve the biologic environment, said Dr. Brian Cole, professor of orthopedic surgery, and section head of the Rush Cartilage Restoration Center, in a press release.

They are believed to help the natural regenerative processes in the body.

Hence they have earned the nickname as mini drug stores based on their ability to secrete a spectrum of bioactive molecules and support the natural regeneration of focal injuries.

Stem cells can be harvested from certain parts of the human body, most notably bone marrow and adipose tissue (fat).

Harvesting bone marrow stem cells is a significantly more invasive and time-consuming procedure that is performed using general anesthesia.

Lipogems offers a novel approach to orthopedic stem cell treatments by using a persons own fat.

The procedure uses a small incision into an area of subcutaneous fat, from which a quantity of fat tissue is harvested and processed by the Lipogems apparatus.

The technology itself, which really is the device that processes the fat, creates a concentration of fat that has been cleansed of all the extraneous things like red blood cells and fibrous tissues, Cole told Healthline.

The concentrated stem cells within that fat tissue are then applied to the problematic joint or bone area.

Lipogems offers a streamlined procedure for stem cell treatment, but there is nothing new about the science itself.

The use of stem cells to treat a variety of conditions has been ongoing for some time now.

What were lacking is really good data at this point in the clinical setting, Cole said. There is substantial data in the laboratory suggesting that these cells may function in the way Ive described: reducing inflammation and so forth. But, we really dont have yet much in the way of good solid clinical data saying that definitively this is making a difference.

Instead, he would like those seeking orthopedic treatment to understand that Lipogems is just one part of a much larger and more complex suite of tools used by physicians.

It has to be taken into context of all the other possible treatment options, from simply icing down a swollen ankle, to changing your daily activity, to surgery.

The unfortunate thing is that people think, well this is the solution that can be used instead of, say, a joint replacement and no longer do we need to do surgery, said Cole.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Nonetheless, Cole and his team are still excited about the possibilities of the Lipogems procedure.

Using a readily available and easily accessible substance like fat as a source of stem cells could have far-reaching implications for procedures in the future.

Were optimistic and intuitively there is a good argument to be made that this is as good or better than any other source of stem cells, said Cole.

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New technology uses body fat to help relieve joint pain - DunyaNews Pakistan

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on New technology uses body fat to help relieve joint pain – DunyaNews Pakistan | June 10th, 2017

Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) of A*STAR have engineered a three-dimensional heart tissue from human stem cells to test the safety and efficacy of new drugs on the heart.

Cardiotoxicity, which can lead to heart failure and even death, is a major cause of drug withdrawal from the market. Antibiotics, anticancer and antidiabetic medications can have unanticipated side effects for the heart. So it is important to test as early as possible whether a newly developed drug is safe for human use. However, cardiotoxicity is difficult to predict in the early stages of drug development, said Professor Jackie Y. Ying, Executive Director at IBN.

A big part of the problem is the use of animals or animal-derived cells in preclinical cardiotoxicity studies due to the limited availability of human heart muscle cells. Substantial genetic and cardiac differences exist between animals and humans. There have been a large number of cases whereby the tests failed to detect cardiovascular toxicity when moving from animal studies to human clinical trials*.

Existing screening methods based on 2D cardiac structure cannot accurately predict drug toxicity, while the currently available 3D structures for screening are difficult to fabricate in the quantities needed for commercial application.

To solve this problem, the IBN research team fabricated their 3D heart tissue from cellular self-assembly of heart muscle cells grown from human induced pluripotent stem cells. They also developed a fluorescence labelling technology to monitor changes in beating rate using a real-time video recording system. The new heart tissue exhibited more cardiac-specific genes, stronger contraction and higher beating rate compared to cells in a 2D structure.

Using the 3D heart tissue, we were able to correctly predict cardiotoxic effects based on changes in the beating rate, even when these were not detected by conventional tests. The method is simple and suitable for large-scale assessment of drug side effects. It could also be used to design personalized therapy using a patients own cells, said lead researcher Dr Andrew Wan, who is Team Leader and Principal Research Scientist at IBN.

The researchers have filed a patent on their human heart tissue model, and hope to work with clinicians and pharmaceutical companies to bring this technology to market.

This article has been republished frommaterialsprovided by A*STAR. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

Reference:

Lu, H. F., Leong, M. F., Lim, T. C., Chua, Y. P., Lim, J. K., Du, C., & Wan, A. C. (2017). Engineering a functional three-dimensional human cardiac tissue model for drug toxicity screening. Biofabrication, 9(2), 025011. doi:10.1088/1758-5090/aa6c3a

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Human Heart Tissue Grown from Stem Cells Improves Drug Testing - Technology Networks

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Human Heart Tissue Grown from Stem Cells Improves Drug Testing – Technology Networks | June 9th, 2017