Sorry about yesterday's outage

Every time I tried to post the blogging program was down. Seems to be okay now. The news is still mostly all about Harvard, but there were a couple other interesting developments this week that I have blogged on. Read on!

Australian Doctors Grow Heart Tissue From Stem Cells

Australian Doctors Grow Heart Tissue From Stem Cells

Researchers at the Bernard O'Brien Institute of Microsurgery in Melbourne are combining tissue engineering techniques with stem cells to grow three-dimensional heart tissue. The research has been done on rats and not people, but it sounds very promising. The scientists begin by implanting a small chamber in the heart and then transplanting cultured stem cells into the chamber. This allows them to grow in three dimensions, as they would in the body, instead of in two dimensions as occurs in a Petri dish. The Melbourne Herald Sun reports that in the rat, a blood vessel looped through the chamber almost immediately began to generate new capillaries, and soon had beating heart tissue. The researchers have been working with other kinds of tissue as well. They estimate 5-10 years before it is ready for human trials.

The stem cells in the rat were human stem cells, but in a therapy they would be cells taken directly from the patient, thus avoiding any immune system response. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that while stem cells from hearts are being researched, the lead scientists said that bone marrow stem cells were most likely to develop into organs.

It’s kind of amazing to me that growing cells in three dimensions is such a new technology. It’s one of those things for which the need seems blindingly obvious once it’s been identified.

Testicle Cells to Substitute for Embryonic Stem Cells?

Testicle Cells to Substitute for Embryonic Stem Cells?

The Guardian reported a few days ago (I know, I’m behind) that British scientists will see if cells obtained from male testicles can exhibit the pluripotent properties of embryonic stem cells. Testicular tissue is rich in stem cells (not surprising, since it has to generate all those sperm), and the researchers will grow those cells in parallel with embryonic stem cells to see if they develop the same way. If they do so, then the next step will be to try to coax them into differentiating into different tissues.

The article doesn’t go deep into the science—I hope that the researchers experiment with different growth cultures as well, since that seems to be a factor in development of at least some types of stem cells. One important point the story does make is that an estimated 150 different stem cell lines would match close to 90% of the population. My nomination for quote of the week is a comment on this issue:

Professor Chris Barratt, scientific director of the Assisted Conception Unit at the Birmingham women's hospital, said: “There are a lot of testicles around and you don't need a staggering number to have enough variety to match nearly all of the population.”

The procedure by which the cells will be obtained was not described, but one researcher said, “it isn't actually as traumatic as it sounds.” I would guess it’s a fairy simple surgical procedure that doesn’t require the use of hormones and so on which is necessary to get eggs from women. So men, line up!

Thoughtful Article on Stem Cells and Religion

Thoughtful Article on Stem Cells and Religion

Science & Theology News recently published a column about different religious perspectives on embryonic stem cells. I encourage you to read the whole article—it is not very long and raises some thoughtful questions. The author, an ethicist, says in part, “What are we to make of the different views expressed by different religions? Clearly no single view of the morality of using early-stage embryos in stem cell research is accepted by all religious groups. In this, religious denominations exhibit the pluralism characteristic of American religiosity and American democracy.” Take a look; it’s nice to see something that elevates discourse rather than trashing it.