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MEDICINE
The Real Lessons Of Stem Cells
Yuval Levin 3/21/2009 12:00:00 AM
"Embryonic stem cells without embryos? Could it really work?" George W. Bush's question was directed to me. It was May of 2005, and the president, vice president and half a dozen White House staffers—of whom I was easily the most junior—were gathered in the Oval Office. I was a member of the domestic-policy staff, and the briefing was on the state of the stem-cell debate, which fell in my portfolio.
MEDICINE
The Whole World Is Watching
Claudia Kalb 3/21/2009 12:00:00 AM
Six weeks before the hoopla over President Barack Obama's executive order lifting restrictions on embryonic-stem-cell research, Hans Keirstead, a scientist at the University of California, Irvine, was already sipping champagne. In 2005 Keirstead had published a study showing that a therapy derived from human embryonic stem cells could make partially paralyzed rats walk. Now he'd gotten word that the FDA had cleared the way for Geron, a small biotech company in California, to launch the first clinical trial of the treatment in human beings with spinal-cord injuries. It was incredible news,not just for Keirstead, who'd been wanting to invent a therapy for brain and spinal-cord disorders since he was 11 years old, but for scientists who believe human embryonic stem cells can teach them about complex diseases and potentially lead to cures. Keirstead, 41, and his team of scientists hailed the news over a case of chilled Veuve Clicquot. "We put the last bottle down about six hours later," Keirstead says. "It was just a really fun time."
MEDICINE
A New Stem Cell Era
Claudia Kalb 3/9/2009 12:00:00 AM
Stem-cell researchers around the country are celebrating President Obama's decision to reverse restrictions on embyronic stem-cell research, a move they say could lead to dramatic advances in the understanding and treatment of conditions like diabetes, heart disease and Alzheimer's. For years, scientists have been frustrated by the restrictions imposed by President George W. Bush in 2001. Bush's policy was intended to be a compromise: it banned the use of federal funds for the creation of new embryonic stem-cell lines while allowing scientists to study 21 lines that had already been created. But researchers say those lines aren't diverse enough and they have been eager to study hundreds of other lines, some of which contain specific genetic mutations for diseases like Parkinson's. There have been practical challenges as well. The restrictions forced scientists to use different lab equipment for privately funded and government-funded research; some even built entirely separate lab space. One of the most disconcerting aspects, researchers say, has been the negative effect on collaboration, a hallmark of the scientific process. Researchers supported by private money haven't been able to team up with scientists funded by the government, potentially holding back new insights and advances.
HEALTH
When Medicine Meets Marketing
Mary Carmichael 12/13/2008 12:00:00 AM
Dallas Hextell was just a baby when his parents bought him a walker—not because he was late reaching a milestone, but because they worried he might never toddle on his own. At 9 months he had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, a form of brain injury caused by oxygen deprivation in utero or at birth. A neurologist had told Derak and Cynthia Hextell there was no cure, that it was best to wait and see if their son improved. But Cynthia, after months of research, enrolled Dallas in a highly experimental trial at Duke University, where a pediatric-transplant surgeon infused him with a sample of his own stem cells harvested from his umbilical-cord blood. A few days later, Derak and Cynthia went home with their son, who was 18 months old and still not crawling, much less walking or talking. They "stared at him" for a week, says Cynthia. "One day he just started saying, 'Mama, mama, mama.' And I started crying." The Hextells ended up donating the walker to another child. By 2, Dallas was not only walking unaided, he was chasing the family dogs.
RESEARCH
Will Stem Cells Finally Deliver?
12/6/2008 12:00:00 AM
Many diseases involve the death of cells that the body cannot naturally replace. Sometimes cell death comes suddenly, as in a heart attack. Other times it is slow and inexorable, as in Alzheimer's disease. The great promise of stem cells—the body's equivalent of renewable energy—is that they could be coaxed into becoming and then replacing cells lost to disease.
FACTCHECK.ORG
Obama's Stem Cell Spinning
Viveca Novak 9/30/2008 12:00:00 AM
By saying that "John McCain has stood in the way—he's opposed stem cell research," the Obama ad seriously misstates the view that McCain has held on this issue since 2001, when he began backing embryonic stem cell research, a position that was out of step with that of many of his fellow Republicans.