Diabetes and Stem Cell Research
Julia Hanf
Stem cell research is an area that is quite controversial. Controversy in the wake of stem cell research and the fine distinctions of universal health care are a few of the subjects explored by health policy authorities and those living with life-changing illnesses such as diabetes and migraine. The largest issue involved, being where these cells originate from. The sources of stem cells are various. They can come from adults, the blood from the umbilical cord, and embryos.
The cure for diabetes may come from the findings of stem cell research. The American Diabetes Association advocates this kind of research, and has lobbied assiduously to procure financing. The American Diabetes Association is also combating restrictions on stem cell research relating to diabetes.
UC Berkeley and Stanford University are two institutions that are coming together on a venture to support collaboration among scientists who perform stem cell research.
Doctors, biologists, chemists, engineers and computer scientists from the two schools previously mentioned, are coming together to discuss their work and to share it with students and faculty.
Both universities are deeply caught up in embryonic stem cell research, which scientists anticipate will provide treatments or cures for such diseases as diabetes, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
As a representation of their new collaboration, the campuses intend to set aside space in their stem cell laboratories for visiting researchers who choose to spend their sabbaticals working with peers at the other school.
A biotechnology company, VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc., utilizes embryonic stem cell technologies to find and develop new drugs for diabetes, announced an expansive embryonic stem cell research union with Toronto's University Health Network, Canada's leading research hospital, and its stem cell research colleague, the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine.
The fresh union places VistaGen to be able to continue to utilize the embryonic stem cell biology information and innovative embryonic stem cell know-how of Dr. Gordon Keller, one of the world's foremost stem cell researchers and the Director of the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine. VistaGen and Dr. Keller look forward to carrying out research into advanced techniques to differentiate between embryonic stem cells into mature cardiac, liver, and pancreatic beta-islet cells. This will progress VistaGen's industry-leading, in vitro biological systems and bioinformatics databases for prognostic toxicology submissions.
The new supported research program is put together on VistaGen's present strategic licenses to Dr. Keller's past embryonic stem cell intellectual property, and envelops new embryonic stem cell-based research projects.
VistaGen is also hopeful that the outcomes of the stem cell research will be useful in developing and finding the newer invention for the different systems that would be used in embryonic stem cell-based liver, pancreas and cardiac beta-islet differentiation. Moreover, VistaGen is hopeful that the results will be used to develop pioneering medications for heart and liver diseases as well as diabetes.
Still another bunch of researchers from the Spring Point Project has been initiating hard work to offer a cure by inserting insulin-producing islet cells derived from pigs into diabetics. Studies demonstrated that transplanting healthy human islet cells in diabetics could turn around the disease. But because of a lack of human donor organs access is restricted to such cells.
Dr. Bernhard Hering, a world-renowned diabetes expert and scientific director of the Diabetes Institute for Immunology and Transplantation at the University of Minnesota, and his panel experimented with pig islet cell transplants on monkeys and discovered that those cell transplants resulted in long-term diabetes reversal in the monkeys. A PowerPoint presentation included a chart that depicted erratic blood sugar counts in the monkeys getting to a level point. The use of pig parts in humans has been doing well in other areas, including pig valves or bowels in transplants. Pig skin is also used in burn centers to substitute human skin.
Owing to the fact that this is implanting alien cells into the body, those getting the transplants would have to receive medication to ensure they did not rebuff the cells. There may possibly be side effects, however right now it is not known how severe they may be, and the side effects may differ from patient to patient.
Sometime in the near future, possibly as early as 2009, the first clinical experiments will be scheduled for those with the most severe form of diabetes who are not capable of monitoring their blood sugar levels and can experience sudden blackouts or other episodes.
The controversy on the research about stem cells are yet to end until the status will be different from the present. The issues and controversies may only end if the stem cells will be developed from a specific source.
About the Author:
Julia Hanf author of the book How To Play the Diabetes Diet Game and Win Through a real life crisis Julia figured out how to live diabetes free. Visit http://www.yourdiabetescure.com and learn more about your solution for diabetes.
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