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The Highlord
Joined: 09 Jul 2006
Posts: 551
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 Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:30 am Post subject: In The World of Science LXII: Stem cells create a jaw. |
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8290138.stm
| Quote: | Jaw bone created from stem cells
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 Columbia University study appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The bone which has been created in the lab is known as the temporomandibular joint (TMJ).
“ The availability of personalized bone grafts engineered from the patient's own stem cells would revolutionise the way we currently treat these defects ”
Dr Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic Columbia University
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.
The latest study used human stem cells taken from bone marrow.
These were seeded into a tissue scaffold, formed into the precise shape of the human jaw bone by using digital images from a patient.
The cells were then cultured using a specially-designed bioreactor which was able to infuse the growing tissue with exactly the level of nutrients found during natural bone development.
Big potential
Lead researcher Dr Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic said: "The availability of personalised bone grafts engineered from the patient's own stem cells would revolutionise the way we currently treat these defects."
Dr Vunjak-Novakovic said the new technique could also be applied to other bones in the head and neck, including skull bones and cheek bones, which are similarly difficult to graft.
The option to engineer anatomically pieces of human bone in this way could potentially transform the ability to carry out reconstruction work, for instance following serious injury or cancer treatment.
She said: "We thought the jawbone would be the most rigorous test of our technique; if you can make this, you can make any shape."
She stressed that the joint created in the lab was bone only, and did not include other tissue, such as cartilage. However, the Columbia team is working on a new method for engineering hybrid grafts including bone and cartilage.
Another major challenge for scientists will be to find a way to engineer bone with a blood supply that can be easily connected to the blood supply of the host.
Professor Anthony Hollander, a tissue engineering expert from the University of Bristol who helped produce an artificial windpipe last year, said there was still a lot of work to be done before the new bone could be used on patients.
But he said: "One of the major problems facing scientists in this field is how to engineer a piece of bone with the right dimensions - that is critical for some of these bone defects.
"This is a lovely piece of tissue engineering which has produced bone with a high degree of accuracy in terms of shape." |
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Last edited by The Highlord on Thu Oct 15, 2009 7:12 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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WheelsOfConfusion
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E-boy
Joined: 10 Jul 2006
Posts: 1552
Location: Virginia (Much barfiness)
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| Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:57 am Post subject: |
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Oh it'll be a while yet. LOL!
They've also come pretty far in basic stuff like growing new bladders (although it get's tougher in multi-tissue type organs). They've come quite a ways with teeth and even hearts (Although once again they run into problems with vascularizing the new tissue they think they'll have this licked in years rather than decades).
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"Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stupid" ~ SGT John Stryker from "Sands of Iwo Jima". |
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Vox Raucus
Joined: 31 Oct 2007
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Location: At the Hundredth Meridian
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| Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 8:13 am Post subject: |
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I misread the title as "Stem cells create a jew".
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Michael
Joined: 09 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 8:22 am Post subject: |
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| so _that's_ why the conservatives are against it! |
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gally912
Joined: 03 Nov 2008
Posts: 661
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| Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 7:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Vox Raucus wrote: | | I misread the title as "Stem cells create a jew". |
me too |
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Darqcyde
Joined: 10 Jul 2006
Posts: 11917
Location: A false vacuum abiding in ignorance.
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Sojobo
Joined: 11 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 11:09 pm Post subject: |
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And your "In the World of Science: XLXVI - Jurassic Beer" should perhaps have been simply LVI?
Is the numbering system really that important when Hollywood is plotting to fill the world with Jewclones?
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Him
Joined: 10 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 1:26 am Post subject: |
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Stemcell research has gone too far!
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Kilgore
Joined: 09 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 2:53 am Post subject: |
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| Michael wrote: | | so _that's_ why the conservatives are against it! |
Actually the article says the jaw was created using adult stem cells, which conservatives have never been against. One of the big arguments conservatives made against using stem cells from aborted fetuses was that the promising research had already moved on to working from adult stem cells.
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WheelsOfConfusion
Joined: 09 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 8:19 am Post subject: |
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| Kilgore wrote: | | Michael wrote: | | so _that's_ why the conservatives are against it! |
Actually the article says the jaw was created using adult stem cells, which conservatives have never been against. One of the big arguments conservatives made against using stem cells from aborted fetuses was that the promising research had already moved on to working from adult stem cells. |
Unfortunately embryonic stem cells don't come from aborted fetuses in the first place. They're already not-embryonic at that point. |
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The Highlord
Joined: 09 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:02 am Post subject: |
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But think of the (snowflake) children!
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E-boy
Joined: 10 Jul 2006
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Location: Virginia (Much barfiness)
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| Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2009 2:39 am Post subject: |
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It's a non-issue these days anyway. They can now extract small numbers of cells from the center of the blastocyst without harming the embryo. It just does some extra cell divisions to make up the difference. They can also coax fully grown skin cells into forming pluripotent cell lines capable of differentiating into a number of tissue types.
There are already several blood diseases that stem cell treatments have cured, both the press and medical practicioners have a tendency to accentuate the positive and play down the negative though. Great progress has been made to be sure, but they are still working on how stem cells get their bearings. For example if scar tissue from an injury exists (as has happened with spinal injuries they are attempting to address with stem cells) where the cells are introduced they will often simply become scar tissue. Then there's the possibility of them not properly differentiating and simply forming tumors or spreading to various parts of the body and becoming inappropriate cell types.
Manufactured organs are definitely making progress. Apparently they have made real progress with growing hearts in an article I read a while back they were still trying to lick getting blood vessels to grow into the hearts to supply oxygen and now they seem to have that settled. Having said that the new hearts they are growing aren't on the level with the original. They are talking more about using a combination of regrown tissue and machanized assist for now. The new tissue doesn't have the structural integrity of the original (but it's getting better).
One development I found entertaining was something the army funded. They call it "pixie dust". In a nutshell it's a substance that provides encouragement to already existing stem cells in the body to settle in and do their thing. In one instance it was applied to the stump of a recently amputated finger tip and the tip grew back nail and all (this happens for some folks naturally, of course) and applied to more substantial finger amputations it encourages the growth of enough new flesh to make some fine grip possible such as turning a key.
Breakthroughs are coming and I am slightly more than cautiously optimistic. It seems especially promising used in conjunction with gene therapy (which is also starting to see some success now after huge set backs initially).
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"Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stupid" ~ SGT John Stryker from "Sands of Iwo Jima". |
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Yorick
Joined: 10 Jul 2006
Posts: 12259
Location: Lagrangia
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| Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 6:18 pm Post subject: |
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ol' jaw bone
come and get along
come and get along with an old jaw bone |
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bad*lil*kitty
Joined: 09 Jul 2006
Posts: 651
Location: body's in IL, heart's in NM
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| Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 12:21 am Post subject: |
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I hadn't really heard anything about this til this thread. It's intriguing for sure. Makes me wonder where we'll be in a few years.
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