Korean Scientists Succeed in Stem Cell Therapy
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200411/kt2004112617575710440.htm
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
A team of Korean researchers claimed Thursday they had performed a
miracle by enabling a patient, who could not even stand up for the last
19 years, to walk with stem cell therapy.
During a press conference, the scientists said they had last month
transplanted multi-potent stem cells from umbilical cord blood to the
37-year-old female patient suffering from a spinal cord injury and she
can now walk on her own.
The team was co-headed by Chosun University professor Song Chang-hun,
Seoul National University professor Kang Kyung-sun and Han Hoon, Ph.D,
from the Seoul Cord Blood Bank (SCB).
``The stem cell transplantation was performed on Oct. 12 this year and
in just three weeks she started to walk with the help of a walker,
Song said.
The patients lower limbs were paralyzed after an accident in 1985
damaged her lower back and hips. Afterward she spent her life in bed or
in a wheelchair.
For the unprecedented clinical test, the scientists isolated stem cells
from umbilical cord blood and then injected them into the damaged part
of the spinal cord.
The sensory and motor nerves of the patient started to improve 15 days
after the operation and she could move her hips. After 25 days, her
feet responded to stimulation.
Earlier in October 2003, Songs team also staged a clinical test with
stem cells originating from umbilical cord blood by injecting them into
another patients spine.
``Back then we injected stem cells into spinal fluid and failed to get
a good result. This time around, we directly targeted the spine and the
method made a difference, Song said.
Songs team look to further test efficiency of the new therapy with
four more patients as soon as they get the green light from Chosun
University ethics board and the government.
Songs team plan to report their research to the scientific world
within the first half of next year.
Immeasurable Upside Potential
Professor Kang and Han, Songs colleagues who co-led the research,
noted the new therapy has a huge upside potential when applied to real
treatments, without arousing ethical disputes.
Seoul National University professor Hwang Woo-suk surprised the world
last February by announcing his groundbreaking exploit of cloning a
human embryo and taking stem cells from it.
The technology is expected to lead to breakthrough treatments for many
hard-to-cure diseases, for instance, by creating replacement organs and
tissues.
At the same time, however, the feat also fueled an ethical debate that
spans science, politics and religion, especially regarding the
possibility of reproductive human cloning.
In comparison, Kang said stem cells originating from the blood of
umbilical cords would not raise such problems since that blood is
routinely discarded after the birth of a baby.
``There have been many controversial debates on embryonic stem cells
and also such stem cells are not practical due to their property of
possibly causing teratoma (cancer of cells), he explained.
Kang added that since cord blood stem cells are later than embryonic
stem cells, they have little chance of causing the fatal teratoma.
``Embryonic stem cells are omni-potent in that they can divide into any
thing even including a tumor cell. But cord blood stem cells are
developed enough not to cause such troubles while retaining as powerful
a differentiation capacity at the same time, he claimed.
Another upside of cord blood stem cells is that they can adapt to the
injected bodies without triggering a big negative inner reaction, which
are common in other transplantations, according to Han, Ph.D, of the
SCB.
``We dont need a strict match between cord blood stem cell type and
the immune system of a patient because the latter accepts the former
pretty well thanks to its immaturity, Han said.
In other transplantation operations, just a slight mismatch based on
the human leukocyte antigen test would cause a catastrophic result due
to immune systems resistance.
The SCB currently retains blood from about 45,000 umbilical cords and
they are enough to cover all Koreans, amply demonstrating the
immeasurable potential of the new therapy.
___
Joel Bennett
Greensboro, North Carolina
Daughter, Rosie - BS/C1/C2 - 01/00 - Current age 16
Full Time Public High School Student
Powerchair and Laptop
http://homepage.mac.com/rosiebennett
