And, guess, what? Once again, the ones used are not embyonic (via Insty)
British scientists have been given the go-ahead to begin potentially ground-breaking experiments using injections of stem cells to repair patients’ damaged hearts. The team hopes to repair the organs of people who have suffered the most severe heart attacks. (snip)
The trial will involve patients with the worst prognosis, those who have scarring on at least half of the left ventricular wall. “It’s the worst heart attack you can have. Most patients just die,” said Ascione.
The team will extract bone marrow from all 60 patients and separate out a class of stem cells that makes up 1% of the tissue. Previous studies have suggested that this cell type is able to regenerate heart muscle cells and blood vessels. By using the patient’s own cells there will be no problems with tissue rejection.
Excellent news. Like Glenn, I hope it works, too.
And all without killing babies.
