Embryonic Stem Cells + Brains = Tumor?
Oct. 24th, 2006 11:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
demonicgerbilhttp://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=healthNews&storyid=2006-10-22T192559Z_01_N22437291_RTRUKOC_0_US-STEMCELLS.xml&src=rss
Injecting human embryonic stem cells into the brains of Parkinson's disease patients may cause tumors to form, U.S. researchers reported on Sunday.
Well, that's not good...
Goldman's team apparently succeeded and transplanted them into the rats with an equivalent of Parkinson's damage. The animals did get better.
But this sounds promising.
But the grafted cells started to show areas that no longer consisted of dopamine-releasing neurons, but of dividing cells that had the potential to give rise to tumors.
The researchers killed the animals before they could know for sure, and said any experiments in humans would have to be done very cautiously.
What? Why? Why on earth did they kill them that soon? It makes no sense. They're freaking rats. Let them get tumors or whatever, then go poke around and see if they did or didn't. I don't get this. You could get the answer to your question in one go, right there, do it! Then you'll learn something extra, either "Nope, not tumors afterall, just a little scare" or "Look at that lumpy rat brain!"
*sigh*
Injecting human embryonic stem cells into the brains of Parkinson's disease patients may cause tumors to form, U.S. researchers reported on Sunday.
Well, that's not good...
Goldman's team apparently succeeded and transplanted them into the rats with an equivalent of Parkinson's damage. The animals did get better.
But this sounds promising.
But the grafted cells started to show areas that no longer consisted of dopamine-releasing neurons, but of dividing cells that had the potential to give rise to tumors.
The researchers killed the animals before they could know for sure, and said any experiments in humans would have to be done very cautiously.
What? Why? Why on earth did they kill them that soon? It makes no sense. They're freaking rats. Let them get tumors or whatever, then go poke around and see if they did or didn't. I don't get this. You could get the answer to your question in one go, right there, do it! Then you'll learn something extra, either "Nope, not tumors afterall, just a little scare" or "Look at that lumpy rat brain!"
*sigh*