Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] Korean stem cell rout...

[Stephen Montgomery-Smith <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

Mike Miller wrote:
> On Sun, 1 Jan 2006, Christian M. Cepel wrote:
>
> > What does this mean for the subject of stem cells on a broader basis? 
> > There are so many different 'types' of uses of stem cell that are 
> > currently being discussed out there that I (and I think the average 
> > public) cannot keep them straight... therapudic cloning, etc...
>
>
> Stem cells are not differentiated.  That means that they can still grow 
> into pancreas cells, liver cells, brain cells, etc.  Stem cells can be 
> taken from fetal tissue.  Another plan is to attempt to clone an 
> "embryo" from, say, some of your skin, then use that embryo to produce 
> stem cells to be used in, say, your brain (e.g., in the substantia nigra 
> to treat Parkinson's disease).  That cloned "embryo" certainly is not an 
> embryo in the usual sense and it isn't clear that it ever could become a 
> person, so it's use in research is less likely to be questioned by 
> religious ideologues.  (Or maybe it's more correct to say that the 
> objections of religious ideologues will carry less weight with cloned 
> "embryos" than with ordinary frozen embryos.)
>
>
> > There's the research Bush banned, there's the issue on the 2006 
> > Missouri ballot, there's all these other debates and conflicts and hopes.
> >
> > Hopes.
>
>
> Research is always undertaken in the hope of discovering useful things, 
> but one never knows until it is completed what one will find.
>
>
> > Even for those opposed to a lot of the procedures, the biggest thing 
> > regarding stem cell research in general has been Hope.  You've got all 
> > these celebrities and folks with reputable names out there pushing for 
> > cures for all sorts of ailments and disease... Michael J. Fox is the 
> > first that comes to mind with his own battle with Parkinsons, and, if 
> > I recall, Superman was hoping for some therapudic solutions/treatments 
> > for those with spinal chord injuries before he expired.
>
>
> The basic idea is that you can use stem cells to replace other cells 
> that have died.  So if your pancreas doesn't produce insulin, causing 
> diabetes, you might grow some new pancreas cells that do produce insulin.
>
>
> > What I'm asking is... I don't understand the significance of the 
> > Korean research... was all the other research validated based on their 
> > work and now rendered invalid, or is there still some exciting (if 
> > controversial) stuff still out there?  I.e., is it all a Red Herring, 
> > or do you just want to avoid Herring caught in the Asiatic waters off 
> > the Korean peninsula?
>
>
> The Korean researcher claimed to have cloned human cells, cloned a dog 
> and produced human stem cells from cloned tissue.  He probably made it 
> all up. So this means that we are stuck using frozen embryos, but not in 
> the US where GWB in his infinite wisdom has decided that they should be 
> thrown in the trash instead.

Are you saying that the Korean chap claimed that he could create clones 
without using pre-existing embryos?



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