Stem Cell Research
On Saturday, I attended the annual meeting of the University of Minnesota Alumni Association in Naples, FL. Every year the University brings some of the brightest and best researchers to report on their technology. The keynote speaker was Dr. John Wagner, Professor of Pediatrics, Director of the Division of Hematology-Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Co-Director of the Center for Translational Medicine, School of Medicine.
As a pediatrician, Dr. Wagner has specialized in debilitating diseases of children. His work with adult stem cells has produced spectacular results in curing Leukemia and some other diseases that I can't pronounce. He then turned his efforts to diseases that are either incurable or existing treatments are inadequate. He showed pictures of children with these diseases that were revolting. Conventional treatment would call for strong chemotherapy, which would destroy the immune system, then bone marrow transplant to rebuild the immune system - often unsuccessful. The patients typically died of opportunistic infections such as pneumonia. Dr. Wagner substituted stem cells from umbilical cord blood, with, again, spectacular results. He is mindful of the ethical dilemma in using embryonic stem cells which requires the destruction of human embryos. Cord blood contains the same stem cell that would be found in an embryo, but does not require destruction of human life. Unfortunately, most maternity wards discard the umbilical cord as medical waste. Because cord blood is in short supply, and because the probability of getting a DNA match is low, it takes a lot of digging to find a suitable donor cord. This makes the procedure very expensive. A typical cord blood transplant costs between $.8 - 1.2 million.
Dr. Wagner said that what is needed is a national cord blood depositary and donor registry, much like what is done for donated organs. This might best be accomplished by a grass roots campaign. He asked for everybody to start a buzz.
As a pediatrician, Dr. Wagner has specialized in debilitating diseases of children. His work with adult stem cells has produced spectacular results in curing Leukemia and some other diseases that I can't pronounce. He then turned his efforts to diseases that are either incurable or existing treatments are inadequate. He showed pictures of children with these diseases that were revolting. Conventional treatment would call for strong chemotherapy, which would destroy the immune system, then bone marrow transplant to rebuild the immune system - often unsuccessful. The patients typically died of opportunistic infections such as pneumonia. Dr. Wagner substituted stem cells from umbilical cord blood, with, again, spectacular results. He is mindful of the ethical dilemma in using embryonic stem cells which requires the destruction of human embryos. Cord blood contains the same stem cell that would be found in an embryo, but does not require destruction of human life. Unfortunately, most maternity wards discard the umbilical cord as medical waste. Because cord blood is in short supply, and because the probability of getting a DNA match is low, it takes a lot of digging to find a suitable donor cord. This makes the procedure very expensive. A typical cord blood transplant costs between $.8 - 1.2 million.
Dr. Wagner said that what is needed is a national cord blood depositary and donor registry, much like what is done for donated organs. This might best be accomplished by a grass roots campaign. He asked for everybody to start a buzz.
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