By Liz Lane, Sky Reporter The family of a teenage girl who died from a rare form of bone cancer is calling for the relaxation of rules governing who is eligible to take part in potentially life-saving drugs trials. Despite the pleas of her parents, doctors and politicians, Chloe Drury was refused access to treatment being trialled by American pharmaceutical company BioMarin. Her family says she was told last September, when she was 17, that she was too young to take part, and that her participation could "jeopardise [her] safety and the integrity of the trial data". Chloe, from Purley in Surrey, died in February, a month after her 18th birthday. She had finally been allowed on the course to treat her Ewing's Sarcoma, but the cancer had progressed aggressively and it was too late. Her mother, Debbie Binner, says she felt totally impotent. "We were just sitting there watching our beautiful 17-year-old daughter get weaker and weaker, knowing there is something out there she could have had and it just seems totally wrong to me, and not a world that I want to live in that treats young people like that." BioMarin said in a statement: "Our deepest sympathy … Continue reading →

BACKGROUND: The use of stem cells to treat various health problems in pets first came about in 2003 for the treatment of horses. A few years later, stem cell treatments for household pets, such as dogs and cats, started to become available as an alternative to surgery or more serious procedures. While veterinarians continue to research different applications, so far stem cells are often used in regenerative therapy for dogs in order to help with arthritis and other joint issues. For this purpose, stem cells are taken from the dogs own fat tissue and injected directly into the diseased joints. (Source: http://www.harvardpress.com) TREATMENT: Stem cell therapy is just one of several alternative treatment options now available for pets. Other alternative veterinary medicine includes acupuncture, traditional Chinese herbal medicine, and chiropractic and aquatic therapies. Acupuncture is the application of small-gauge needles to various points on the body for the purpose of eliciting physiological responses in the treatment of almost any disease or condition. Chinese herbal medicine is mainly used with dogs because it is difficult to administer to cats. The herbs come in powder, capsule, and biscuit form. Powder is the least expensive, but most difficult to give. They are used … Continue reading →

Living Polymerisation and Nanomedicine A short video as part of my Macromolecules module in my first year at the University of York! References and links... https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=5054649d... By: Ryan Gray … Continue reading →