Aug. 5, 2012, 3 a.m. A GROWING number of overseas clinics touting stem cell therapy for conditions ranging from sexual disorders to HIV are targeting Australia, where such treatments are restricted. Australian scientists have raised concerns about so-called ''stem cell tourism'', saying many of the treatments offered are unproven, untested and potentially deadly. The Swiss firm Fetal Cell Technologies International has been advertising in Australia since last year and Emcell, based in Ukraine, started promoting its services last month. It is estimated as many as 200 Australians have travelled overseas for the therapy. The secretary for science policy at the Australian Academy of Science, Bob Williamson, said he empathised with the desperation of seriously ill people but warned against the unproven therapies, which can cost up to $60,000. ''The therapies are almost all untested and unproven and sometimes they have killed people,'' Professor Williamson said. The Sun-Herald's calls to Emcell's Melbourne office were not returned. Stem Cells Australia's Megan Munsie, who is conducting a study into stem cell tourism with Monash University, said many people she interviewed were unaware of the risks of therapy overseas. ''We're not talking about rubbing something into your skin or taking a capsule, we are … Continue reading →

A GROWING number of overseas clinics touting stem cell therapy for conditions ranging from sexual disorders to HIV are targeting Australia, where such treatments are restricted. Australian scientists have raised concerns about so-called ''stem cell tourism'', saying many of the treatments offered are unproven, untested and potentially deadly. The Swiss firm Fetal Cell Technologies International has been advertising in Australia since last year and Emcell, based in Ukraine, started promoting its services last month. It is estimated as many as 200 Australians have travelled overseas for the therapy. The secretary for science policy at the Australian Academy of Science, Bob Williamson, said he empathised with the desperation of seriously ill people but warned against the unproven therapies, which can cost up to $60,000. Advertisement ''The therapies are almost all untested and unproven and sometimes they have killed people,'' Professor Williamson said. The Sun-Herald's calls to Emcell's Melbourne office were not returned. Stem Cells Australia's Megan Munsie, who is conducting a study into stem cell tourism with Monash University, said many people she interviewed were unaware of the risks of therapy overseas. ''We're not talking about rubbing something into your skin or taking a capsule, we are talking about often a … Continue reading →

As a medical student at Johns Hopkins University, Jimmy Lin worked on a case involving a 5-year-old whose development was suddenly stunted and who experienced unexplained and uncontrollable bouts of pain. His parents brought him to the best doctors at Harvard University, the Mayo Clinic and other top medical centers. "It broke my heart seeing the parents' faces drop when we told them it was most likely a rare genetic condition," Lin said, sitting in a St. Louis coffee shop near the Washington University School of Medicine, where he now works as a genomics researcher. "I remember them walking down the hallway and wondering where they would go next." Mainstream medicine hasn't focused its resources on the 7,000 rare diseases that have baffled doctors for decades and afflict a combined 350 million people worldwide. "There are millions of kids wandering from place to place that no one is really helping," said Lin. He believes answers may lie in their genes. To find out, he and more than a dozen other young scientists and researchers created the Rare Genomics Institute, a nonprofit that leverages falling DNA sequencing costs and rising online giving to support medical research. On the institute's website, children … Continue reading →