Adult stem cells continue to demonstrate remarkable capacities. Now, bone marrow stem cells have been used to make a jawbone joint. From the story:
Scientists have created part of the jaw joint in the lab using human adult stem cells. They say it is the first time a complex, anatomically-sized bone has been accurately created in this way. It is hoped the technique could be used not only to treat disorders of the specific joint, but more widely to correct problems with other bones too…
The bone which has been created in the lab is known as the temporomandibular joint (TMJ)…Problems with the joint can be the result of birth defects, arthritis or injury. Although they are widespread, treatment can be difficult. The joint has a complex structure which makes it difficult to repair by using grafts from bones elsewhere in the body.
We can look forward to a remarkable future for regenerative medicine utilizing fully ethical approaches.
October 12th, 2009 | 4:15 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by SPUC prolife. SPUC prolife said: Adult stem cells used to make jawbone joint http://is.gd/4f6tf #prolife #bioethics [...]
October 12th, 2009 | 9:42 am
Well that’s great news. Congratulations to them. However it’s no more justification to stop ESCR on ethical grounds than invention of the steam engine would have justified cessation of research into internal combustion engines on ethical grounds — even though 50,000 people are killed in motor vehicle accidents in America every year.
October 12th, 2009 | 12:26 pm
ESCR is wrong and would be wrong regardless of the success or failure of IPSC and adult stem cell research. The fact that IPSC and adult stem cell therapies is a good thing, but the success or failure of this research doesn’t change the ethical nature of ESCR.
And most every ethical system recognizes a cardinal difference between outcomes that are unintended and incidental (car accidents) and outcomes that are inherent to the action (the growth and destruction of human embryos in ESCR).
October 12th, 2009 | 2:43 pm
“However it’s no more justification to stop ESCR on ethical grounds than invention of the steam engine would have justified cessation of research into internal combustion engines on ethical grounds — even though 50,000 people are killed in motor vehicle accidents in America every year.”
Are they killed intentionally and referred to as non-humans?
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