Dr. Robert C. Green, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard, sees practical as well as ethical issues in trying to warn anonymous study subjects of disease risks. (Gretchen Ertl, The New York Times) Dr. Arul Chinnaiyan stared at a printout of gene sequences from a man with cancer, a subject in one of his studies. There, along with the man's cancer genes, was something unexpected genes of the virus that causes AIDS. It could have been a sign that the man was infected with HIV; the only way to tell was further testing. But Chinnaiyan, who leads the Center for Translational Pathology at the University of Michigan, was not able to suggest that to the patient, who had donated his cells on the condition that he remain anonymous. Around the world, genetic researchers using tools that are ever more sophisticated to peer into the DNA of cells are finding things they were not looking for, including information that could make a big difference to an anonymous donor. The question of how, when and whether to return genetic results to study subjects or their families "is one of the thorniest current challenges in clinical research," said Dr. Francis Collins, the … Continue reading →

Race is everywhere in medicine. Mosthealth statistics are broken down by race. We routinely characterize diseases by which populations they affect more and less and medications by which ethnicities respond better or worse. Its so ubiquitous that its easy to take for granted as justified. But the use of race in medicine is a subject that is vigorously debated. Whenever a new study comes out stratifying results by race, there are inevitably supporters and critics. The question under debate: is there a place for race in medicine? Theres a growing number who say we should toss this way of thinking entirely. Many scholars now contend that race is closer to a social construct than a biological category, and theres the legitimate fear that pointing out differences between races sends the message that the difference is biological. Even if there are certain genetic differences among populations, we know that self-reported race is at best a crude proxy for indicating them. Moreover, studies often do not adjust for all other variables besides genetics, such as socioeconomic status, culture, and discrimination meaning if differences are shown, the knee-jerk tendency to think biology might overshadow important environmental disparities that deserve our attention. There are … Continue reading →

Beanie Babies billionaire Ty Warner has donated $19,000 to a woman with kidney failure (Jennifer Vasilakos, inset) to pay for a stem cell treatment she hopes will save her life. Source: Supplied A WOMAN who gave driving directions to a lost traveller ended up with a $US20,000 cheque to pay for life-saving medical treatment. Jennifer Vasilakos wrote in her blog that she was sitting at her stall by the side of the road in Santa Barbara California, trying to raise money for an operation. Ms Vasilakos has kidney failure but does not qualify for a transplant because of the removal of a small spot of melanoma from her back last year. She was seeking donations towards the cost of a stem cell treatment which she hoped could repair her kidneys, but which was not available in the US. Then one day a stranger rolled up in a nondescript car. "He was lost and needed directions, Ms Vasilakos blogged. "I often get asked by random strangers for directions. Not one to miss an opportunity, I handed him my flyer and he made a fifty dollar donation. As he drove off, I thought that was the end of our encounter." But an … Continue reading →

PATIENTS are due to undergo a pioneering stem cell treatment to repair knee cartilage as a world first is trialled at a Bristol hospital. The "bandage" which uses patients' own stem cells has been developed by a Bristol University spin-out company, Azellon Ltd, and will be implanted in their knee in a procedure at Southmead Hospital. Professor Anthony Hollander with an appliance used to insert the pioneering stem cell 'bandage' into damaged knee cartilage; left, a close-up of how the knee operation is carried out Patients with torn meniscal cartilage are now being recruited as part of the study. In the initial phase ten patients will undergo the procedure. Researchers have already established in laboratory tests that stem cells can be used to repair tears in cartilage, which is a common sports injury. Anthony Hollander, who has led the research, was involved in the world's first windpipe transplant in 2008 and has used similar technology to create the stem cell bandage for patients with torn knee cartilage. Patients who have been diagnosed with torn meniscal cartilage following an MRI scan will have a small operation to take the bone marrow from their hip. The stem cells taken from the bone … Continue reading →

It was a good week for the drug police. Lance Armstrong dropped his fight against the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, and Oakland Athletics pitcher Bartolo Colon was banned 50 games by Major League Baseball for a positive testosterone test. Bartolo Coln credits stem cell treatment for his return to Major League Baseball. (Getty)The enforcers should enjoy this moment while it lasts, because sports science is on the precipice of a potentially new era of performance enhancement: stem cell therapy, which could soon make testosterone injections as ancient as the typewriter and press enforcement agencies like USADA to play catch up once again. "Sports medicine will definitely see a revolution in the next 10 to 50 years," says Allston Stubbs, associate professor of orthopedic surgery at Wake Forest Baptist Health. "We'll go from traditional scalpel surgery to biologic surgery. Now we operate with a knife, but we'll move to cells or growth factors." This is both thrilling and daunting in the performance-enhancement realm, because stem cell therapy is potentially both an avenue to better performance and a doorway to undetectable enhancement. Colon is an example of how both, if the science advances as some in the field of stem cell research believe … Continue reading →

ScienceDaily (Aug. 24, 2012) A team of University of Minnesota biomedical engineers and researchers from Mayo Clinic just published a groundbreaking study that outlines how a new type of non-invasive brain scan taken immediately after a seizure gives additional insight into possible causes and treatments for epilepsy patients. The new findings could specifically benefit millions of people who are unable to control their epilepsy with medication. The study's findings include: "This is the first-ever study where new non-invasive methods were used to study patients after a seizure instead of during a seizure," said Bin He, a biomedical engineering professor in the University of Minnesota's College of Science and Engineering and senior author of the study. "It's really a paradigm shift for research in epilepsy." Epilepsy affects nearly 3 million Americans and 50 million people worldwide. While medications and other treatments help many people of all ages who live with epilepsy, about 1 million people in the U.S. and 17 million people worldwide continue to have seizures that can severely limit their lives. The biggest challenge for medical researchers is to locate the part of the brain responsible for the seizures to determine possible treatments. In the past, most research has … Continue reading →