Pirate's Cove

This is some pretty good news

Osiris Therapeutics Inc, which is developing a drug to treat a rare condition that affects bone marrow transplant patients, is poised to unveil results from a late-stage trial that could pave the way for the first approved drug in that indication and instill investor confidence in the company.

GvHD is a potentially fatal disease in which immune cells from a transplanted bone marrow recognize the recipient’s body as foreign and attack it.

Osiris’ drug, Prochymal, is designed to work by interacting with the immune cells in the body, reducing inflammation and assisting in tissue repair.

In theory, it could also help patients with diseases such as diabetes and Crohn’s disease.

Do you know what is not mentioned anywhere in this story, which comes from the Science section of Reuters news? If you guess “what type of stem cells are being used?,” give yourself a shot of tequila. Osiris tends to use Mesenchymal stem cells, a form of adult stem cells found in bone marrow, in all their research. So, once again, adult stem cells are showing promise.

This kind of muddle headed story is what causes those who do not follow the whole stem cell debate to not understand that there are other forms than embryonic stem cells, allowing partisan Democrats to demagogue and paint Republicans to be “anti-science for being against stem cell research,” when, in fact, we are all for stem cell research, as long as it leaves using federal funds for embryonic research out of the mix. Some are against the use because embryos have to be destroyed. Others, like myself, are against using federal funds for research that has so far proven completely worthless in real world applications. Not too mention that Democrats pretty much support ESC research in order to provide a rational for abortions.