Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Human Trial | National Review Online

The first induced pluripotent stem cell human trialthat is, ethical stem cells made from skin or other tissuesis about to begin. Like the two (or is it three?) existing embryonic stem cell trials, it has to do with eye disease. From the Nature News story:

On 1 August, researchers at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan, will start recruiting patients for theworlds first clinical studyusing induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.RIKENs endorsement, officially announced today, was the final stage in a long series of regulatory steps that included approval from the health ministry.

Ophthalmologist Masayo Takahashi will be using sheets of retinal pigment epithelium cells, derived from iPS cells, to try to halt the progression of age-related macular degeneration. In the wet-type AMD targeted by Takahashi, abnormal vascularization invades and destabilizes the epithelium, which supports the photoreceptors, and causes loss of vision.

IPScslike embryonic stem cellscarry a pronounced danger of causing tumors with rare exceptionssuch as in these eye diseases. But adult stem cells dont have that difficulty and are currently in thousands of human trials around the worldfor heart disease, paralysis, MS, etc.along with some already approved clinical applications.

Remember when George Bushwas anti science forclaiming that scientists could find ethical alternatives toESCR? Waddya know:Bushs faith in ethical science was right.

Here is the original post:
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Human Trial | National Review Online