Stem cell transplant has cured HIV infection, say doctors
1–10 of 42 posts
Re: Stem cell transplant has cured HIV infection, say doctors
#2Stem Cell Research must be allowed.
Re: Stem cell transplant has cured HIV infection, say doctors
#3Stem Cell Research must be allowed.
I came here to extoll the benefits of stem cell therapy with bio-matter obtained from the proper sources... but you beat me to it. :)
Re: Stem cell transplant has cured HIV infection, say doctors
#4If this doesn't turn out to be overblown sensationalism, then the team behind this (actual!) cure probably deserves a Nobel for their efforts and results.
Re: Stem cell transplant has cured HIV infection, say doctors
#5Stem Cell Research must be allowed.
Agreed of course, though this really isn't the place or time to get political.
If I understand this correctly, these were stem cells from an adult donor who happened to be resistant to HIV, and there is pretty much no opposition* to adult stem cell research.
*well, some people of course oppose it, but the opposition worth mention is against embryonic stem cells.
Re: Stem cell transplant has cured HIV infection, say doctors
#6Stem Cell Research must be allowed.
Agreed of course, though this really isn't the place or time to get political. If I understand this correctly, these were stem cells from an adult donor who happened to be resistant to HIV, and there is pretty much no opposition* to adult stem cell research. *well, some people of course oppose it, but the opposition worth mention is against embryonic stem cells.
Further elaboration: "Doctors chose stem cells from an individual who had an unusual genetic profile: a mutation inherited from both parents that resulted in CD4 cells that lacked the CCR5 receptor."
IIRC, there are only a handful of embryonic stem cell lines currently in active use. If one of them happened to be resistant to HIV I think we would have heard of it before now.
Re: Stem cell transplant has cured HIV infection, say doctors
#7If this doesn't turn out to be overblown sensationalism, then the team behind this (actual!) cure probably deserves a Nobel for their efforts and results.
It's real, but not practical. The risk of death during a transplant like this is as high as 10%, because it involves completely knocking out the immune system.
Re: Stem cell transplant has cured HIV infection, say doctors
#8If this doesn't turn out to be overblown sensationalism, then the team behind this (actual!) cure probably deserves a Nobel for their efforts and results.
It's real, but not practical. The risk of death during a transplant like this is as high as 10%, because it involves completely knocking out the immune system.
I think most AIDS patients would gladly take that 10% chance.
Re: Stem cell transplant has cured HIV infection, say doctors
#9Stem Cell Research must be allowed.
Agreed of course, though this really isn't the place or time to get political. If I understand this correctly, these were stem cells from an adult donor who happened to be resistant to HIV, and there is pretty much no opposition* to adult stem cell research. *well, some people of course oppose it, but the opposition worth mention is against embryonic stem cells.
Certainly, if the apparent cure (which I hope and I'm sure the rest of the world hopes it is) came from embryonic stem cells, this would deplete any political capital held by the opposition to embryonic stem cell research.
As the cells came from an adult donor, though, the talking heads on both sides of the issue can rest assured that on a slow news day, they can still fall back on dogmatic opinion pieces!
Re: Stem cell transplant has cured HIV infection, say doctors
#10Stem Cell Research must be allowed.
The trick is that there are many sources of stem cells, some controversial, some most definitely not.
For instance: baby teeth[1]; amniotic fluid[2]; embryos[3]; fetuses[4]; and others. There are even "pluripotent"[5] cells which have similar attributes, which have even been created from skin cells.
"Stem Cell Research must be allowed": of course. Blanket bans are ignorant of the sources, and are effectively idiotic in the extreme. But which do you allow? And do you allow researchers to pay people for them? (note that this could mean abortions become profitable, if amniotic fluid / similar cells are allowed) And how do you get them? They're also still effectively human genetic experimentation - some people will never approve of that.
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell#cite_ref-60
[2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell#Amniotic
[3]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell#Embryonic
[4]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell#Fetal
[5]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell#Induced_pluripotent