A South Korean woman paralyzed for 20 years is walking again after scientists say they repaired her damaged spine using stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood. Hwang Mi-Soon, 37, had been bedridden since damaging her back in an accident two decades ago.
The use of stem cells from cord blood could also point to a way to side-step the ethical dispute over the controversial use of embryos in embryonic stem-cell research. So-called "multipotent" stem cells -- those found in cord blood -- are capable of forming a limited number of specialized cell types, unlike the more versatile "undifferentiated" cells that are derived from embroyos. However, these stem cells isolated from umbilical cord blood have emerged as an ethical and safe alternative to embryonic stem cells.
Clinical trials with embryonic stem cells are believed to be years away because of the risks and ethical problems involved in the production of embryos -- regarded as living humans by some people -- for scientific use. In contrast, there is no ethical dimension when stem cells from umbilical cord blood are obtained, according to researchers. Additionally, umbilical cord blood stem cells trigger little immune response in the recipient as embryonic stem cells have a tendency to form tumors when injected into animals or human beings.
For the therapy, multipotent stem cells were isolated from umbilical cord blood, which had been frozen immediately after the birth of a baby and cultured for a period of time. Then these cells were directly injected to the damaged part of the spinal cord.
Seems this development sidesteps the moral issues involved with embryonic stem cell research. Nobody can really get outraged at culturing umbilical cord cells, which are heading either for the trash bin or the pickling jar.
California recently passed a ballot initiative that allowed for $3 billion in state funding for embryonic stem cell research, in the absence of federal funding. I think it is fair to say that there is absolutely no question whatsoever that this is the future of medicine, moral outrage not withstanding. Other countries will be pouring funding into this research, and it is good to know that the US will have a foothold in the industry. This will be the biggest boon for California since the personal computing industry, which was the biggest boon since the aerospace industry, which was the biggest boon since the fimmaking industry, which continues to be the biggest source of revenue for our country.
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