Doctors
see
adult
stem cell milestone
British and Indian doctors have achieved a milestone in stem cell
research, transplanting a new windpipe, or trachea, into a 10-year-old
boy using his own non-embryonic, or adult, stem cells.
It marked the first time such a procedure has been performed in a child
and the initial case of an entire trachea being transplanted, the UCL
Institute of Child Health in Great Britain reported.
The transplant was conducted for a boy who has a rare congenital
condition named Long Segment Tracheal Stenosis, which refers to a
diminutive windpipe that will not develop. "It is like breathing
through a straw and is a life threatening condition," according to the
institute.
Doctors stripped a donated trachea of the donor's cells and injected
stem cells from the boy's bone marrow into the trachea shortly before
implanting it in the boy, the institute reported.
Using the boy's own stem cells prevents possible problems with
transplant rejection.
The case, reported in mid-March, is another success for non-embryonic
stem cells, which have produced therapies in trials for at least 73
ailments in human beings, according to Do No Harm, a coalition
promoting ethics in research. Embryonic stem cell research, which
results from the destruction of human embryos, has yet to generate
successful treatments in human beings.
Contact: Tom Strode
Source: Baptist Press
Publish Date: May 27, 2010
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