Adult Stem Cells for Diabetes Treatment
US scientists believe they have found a way to use brain stem cells to "cure" diabetes. Although the work is not yet ready to be tested on human patients, results in animals have been promising, say the Stanford University researchers.
Many have conjectured that stem cells harvested from human embryos could be used to treat diabetes, despite the known ethical problem of destroying life and medical limitations (e.g., the development of tumors). Dr Seung Kim and colleagues looked at whether adult stem cells taken from the brain might work effectively and at the same time avoid the known obstacles associated with embryonic stem cells.
Dr Kim's team added a cocktail of chemicals to brain stem cells and coaxed them to develop into the insulin-producing islet cells that are lacking in diabetes.
To find out whether these cells would "work", they transplanted them into a cavity in the kidney in mice where other types of insulin-producing cells have been found to survive before.
When the blood sugar went up in these mice, the transplanted "mature" brain stem cells again released insulin.
Four weeks later, the cells were still alive and producing insulin and none had turned cancerous.
One of the potential benefits of this treatment approach is each individual would be their own donor.
At this point the research is immature and unproven. However, it is becoming increasingly clear, even from a utilitarian standpoint, that embryonic stem cell research is unnecessary. From a pro-life perspective, ESC is simply unacceptable.
Posted April 26, 2005 6:32 AM
