Stem Cells Made From Cloning Diabetic Woman

[kelroy55]

Science keeps getting better.

Stem Cells Made From Cloning Diabetic Woman - NBC News

[Garin]

Wow they made something from an already living something. Very impressive

[kelroy55]

Yes it is very impressive. Hopefully it will lead to a cure for diabetes.

[Garin]

There is no money in cures KR, only medicines. They have zero interest in curing anything bank on it.

[kelroy55]

I disagree but that's nothing new. Science is making advances in many areas, some improving the quality of life and others expanding our knowledge of the universe.

[Thesaurum]

The technique described, somatic cell nuclear transfer, has been used twice already to "create" embryonic stem cells by removing the nucleus from a normal cell, emptying the nucleus of a human egg cell, then injecting the nucleus from the skin cell into the egg. Following an induced chemical reaction a blastocyst develops which is then chemically bathed to direct the undifferentiated cells to a desired cell.

The best that can be said of this event is it may lead to a better understanding of the disease, but likely not a cure:

Dr. Douglas Melton of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, ....who’s been studying diabetes for decades, says it’s unlikely stem cell transplants will cure or treat diabetes, however. “A person that has Type 1 diabetes can reject and has rejected their own beta cells,” Melton told NBC news. “Making beta cells from these kinds of stem cells will not solve the problem.” But studying stem cells made from a patient with diabetes will be valuable for better understanding the disease, he said. (from the linked article)

It is interesting this method is being pursued in light of the advances in induced pluripotent stem cells, the area where the field appears to be moving and which does not carry the ethical or legal baggage of human cloning.

[PennyQuilts]

Thanks for taking the time to explain how a lot of that works. I certainly hope they are able to find a means to use stem cells aside from embryonic. What a marvel that would be if some of the hopes we read about came to fruition. I hope I live long enough to see such things.

[Snowman]

There is no money in cures KR, only medicines. They have zero interest in curing anything bank on it.

Depends on who is funding the research