LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Robert Waddell says he's glad the stem cells that healed him came from "a guy who was 50 years old" and not a human embryo. As a Catholic, Waddell opposes the destruction of embryos and didn't want to rely on embryonic stem cells to cure his kidney disease. But he avoided this moral dilemma by getting bone marrow stem cells from a friend who donated a kidney as part of a University of Louisville study. "It has nothing to do with embryonic stem cells," said Waddell, a 47-year-old father of four. "That made it a lot easier." Recent strides in stem-cell research show adult stem cells to be ever-more-promising, many scientists say, quelling the controversy steeped in faith and science that has long surrounded embryonic stem cells. In fact, University of Louisville researcher Scott Whittemore said the debate is almost moot. "Realistically, (many scientists don't use) the types of stem cells that are so problematic anymore," he said, adding that adult stem cells can now be reprogrammed to behave like embryonic stem cells. "The field has moved so fast." In addition to these genetically reprogrammed adult cells - known as induced pluripotent stem cells or iPS cells … Continue reading →

Five years ago, local doctors told Penny Garrett that a miracle was the only way she would survive the aggressive cancer attacking her body. She found that miracle a thousand miles away in Houstons state-of-the-art University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. After running a gauntlet of chemotherapy and surgeries that spared her from one rare form of the disease, Garrett now faces a stem cell transplant to help her ward off another form of the disease ravaging her bloodstream. Garrett, of Damascus, Virginia, was just 39 years old when first diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma, a rare, aggressive malignancy of the soft tissue growing inside her uterus. Doctors here first thought she had a fibroid tumor, but its rapid growth proved otherwise. We werent even thinking about cancer. I went in to set it [surgery] up in December while my kids were on Christmas break, so I could recover while they didnt have homework. When I went into the office, my doctor said this is growing too fast to be a fibroid tumor; we have to do surgery tomorrow. I had to go to the hospital to check in, get X-rays and lab work. It was pretty devastating to be by … Continue reading →

As dozens of men toured a brewery, tasted beer and swabbed the inside of their cheeks at Calgarys Village Brewery on Saturday, Al Carpenter was at home recovering from a stem-cell transplant. For weeks, Village co-founder Jim Button and Carpenters brother Steve had been organizing a Swab-a-Thon event in an effort to locate a stem cell match for Carpenter, who is a longtime friend of Buttons and an Ottawa father who has a rare form of leukemia. On Friday, the day before Village was set to host the donor drive targeting men aged 18 to 35, Carpenter was in hospital undergoing a stem-cell transplant after a near-perfect match was found. The 49-year-old married father of two girls under 10 was diagnosed last December with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a rare blood cancer that usually strikes children. The fact Carpenter found a stem cell match in the days before the Calgary event only emphasizes just how important Canadian Blood Services OneMatch stem cell and bone marrow donor program is, said Button. Now it becomes a conversation about the fact that out of 22 million people (worldwide in the registry), he didnt have a match, then all of a sudden, one day, something … Continue reading →

Three-year-old Gaurav Bains spent almost six months recovering from a stem cell transplant. His proud parents released the footage through the Birmingham Mail to encourage people to join the bone marrow register This is the priceless moment a Midland family feared they would never see. Brave toddler Gaurav Bains takes his first steps after a lifesaving stem cell transplant. The three-year-old spent almost six months recovering from the operation but was recorded as he learned to walk all over again. His proud mum Gurprit said: It was overwhelming seeing him walk it was just as precious as when he took his first ever steps. He still needs physiotherapy because his muscles tightened as he spent three months in a hospital bed. The touching family footage showed Gaurav, from Tipton, wobbling from side to side as he regained his independence. Gurprit and her husband Sunny filmed it last month at the family-owned business, Bains Supersave. They released it through the Birmingham Mail in a bid to boost the number of volunteers joining the bone marrow register. Recent figures claimed the West Midlands was among the worst areas of the country for new recruits, with just 0.66 per cent of residents on … Continue reading →