Monday, January 12, 2009
New drug combo may boost stem cell production
Researchers announced Thursday that a combination of drugs (using Genzyme Corp's Mozobil ) shows it may be possible to make bone marrow produce & release extra adult stem cells into the bloodstream to repair the heart and broken bones.
Researchers hope that studying this through mice can be used in the future to help tackle autoimmune diseases (such as rheumatoid arthritis -> where the body confuses healthy tissues for foreign substances and therefore, attacks itself). Hoping to release extra stem cells, we could potentially call up extra numbers of whichever stem cells the body needs, hoping to lead to new treatments of various diseases and injuries by mobilizing a person’s own stem cells from within. Stem cells are the body's master cells, giving rise to various tissues and the blood. They are found throughout the organs, blood and tissue and are in immature form until they generate needed cell types.
Sometime in the future, doctors hope to use stem cells in a new field called regenerative medicine in which tailor-made transplants of tissues and perhaps organs can be grown from a patient's own cells.
To start experimenting with the mice, they treated them with two naturally occurring proteins in the bone marrow called VEGF and G-CSF growth factor. Then the mice received a shot of Genzyme's stem-cell transplantation drug Mozobil.
The G-CSF in combination with the Mozobil produced hematopeotic stem cells (stimulates stem cells involving in making blood cells) Researchers wanted to see if the VEGF growth factor stimulated other types of stem cells involved in building heart, bone tissue, and blood vessels.
The results of the experiment found that the mice given the VEGF and Mozobil released about 100 times more stem cells into the bloodstream compared to the mice that didn’t receive the treatment. The next step is determining whether this technique can be used to actually repair damage.
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1 comment:
Three Good
-This article is ever important with the development of stem cell research. By having a pill that produces stem cells in your body, the problem of the religious right complaining about the “murder” of fetuses is nullified.
- This article alerted me to a new revolutionary drug that I would highly endorse.
-I believe that this is a drug that may help shape the world as we know it. With it the problem of donors and the many facets of infections that come with it would no longer be a problem
Two Bad
-The article did not have a point of view that I could see.
-The piece did not reflec on what people around the U.S. thought of this new drug and I think that with that part the wrticle would take on a new depth
One helpful Piece of Advice
-If the person commenting on this piece would have done outside research on this topic and had solved the two problems stated above I think this would be a much better current event
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