Korean Stem Cell Claims

This story in the Korean times makes the claim that Korean researchers have demonstrated the ability of this patient to walk as a result of umbilical cord blood derived stem cells. The story is being trumpeted everywhere as the 'research Reeve was pushing for, if only society would have allowed it to go forward', but in fact the most likely spin of this report - if it even turns out to be real and replicable - will be that the embryo-derived stem cells Reeve lobbied for aren't what he needed. Which may or may not be true, but either way it is annoying because the power of adult cells to heal cannot be fully explored without continuing research on embryos at least for a few more years.

Pigs Need Never Die Again

Hopkins reported Tuesday that its cardiology department and stem cell group successfully achieved full or near full recovery in pigs who had had heart attacks, using transplants of stem cells from the bone marrow. Cells had not been redifferentiated to colonies of heart muscle cells, but rather differentiated themselves in the pig heart. No word on how they recruited pigs with heart problems to the study.

Wired News: Clone Ban Unlikely to Pass Senate

The change in administration makes stem cell proponents very nervous. Will a more republican Senate mean that the therapeutic cloning ban will finally pass, effectvely killing any chance for a stem cell biotech industry i nthe United States? Not according to Wired magazine, who report that, even with the change in administraion, a cloning ban is unlikely to pass even our new, more republican Senate. If Wired is right, the hopes for stem cell research in the US remain alive, and have been given a big boost by the passing of the $3 billion California stem cell initiative.

FT.com: ReNeuron hES Stroke Therapy "Ready for Trial"

Financial Times' David Firn reports that an honest-to-goodness hES clinical trial is ready to start for the improvement of sensory motor abilities lost in stroke.

Wilmut the Clinical Researcher

Ian Wilmut has applied to HFEA for a permit to investigate potential cell therapeutics for ALS, using human embryonic cells produced through cloning. The news announcements, even this one come from a short news conference so little is really known. Wilmut's presence in this area at this time could scarcely be more volatile for the US election-year debate about "who will get ahead" in hES research under US restrictions.

Boston Globe: Family Seeks $15,000 hES Miracle

Gareth Cook is one of the Blobe's most intrepid science reporters. His front page piece today goes after Ukrainian stem cell "therapies," following the Rossetti family through two rounds of treatment. It's not an impressive investigative piece but it makes us wonder whether U.S. stem cell researchers should be educating clinicians about stem cell fraud.