Teen Returns From China With Ability To See

[chuckywang]

Originally posted by: arkcom
How does this relate to Bush's ban? This story is about umbilical cord stem cells. Researchers can do whatever they want with umbilical cord blood, including getting government grants.

Apparently they can't do something useful with it like give someone eyesight.

 

[UpGrD]

Maybe I missed something, but can anyone point me to any evidence that Gorge Bush banned stem cell research?

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: ChAoTiCpInOy
I have this exact same condition. They need to bring this to America.

Ahh no we don;t. As already pointed out this has not been studied and/or really tested. Yea Bush put science back a bit but even without him we, US, would still not be doing much of any human test like this by now. These same cells could leave the area and form cancer or start growing eye tissue else where. So she gets her sight back but dies next year due to a growth in her head.

Its like making a drug and just giving it to anybody without testing to see if it kills you first. And China is the last place I have belief they did any studies for safety.

 

[imported_Imp]

She has better eyes than I do... WTF

 

[chuckywang]

Originally posted by: DanTMWTMP

Originally posted by: MrMatt

Originally posted by: Jeff7
Returns with the ability to see more clearly.
Had she been blind before, she wouldn't have known the color green when she saw it, nor would she already be learning to drive. From what I've read of people who are blind from birth, and then given the ability to see, their brains just don't know what to do with the information. In one case I remember reading about, the person could be shown a cube and a 2D picture of a cube. He could see that there was something different about them, but he couldn't quite explain what it was.

many people who have surgeries to reverse blindness from birth want to go back to being blind. They can't navigate with sight. The thing about brain plasticity is that if you can't see from birth (for instance) the parts of your brain that account for vision will be allotted to other senses. So the person in your example probably had portions of their Occipital lobe dedicated to something besides vision and interpretation of shapes and depth.

it mentioned that she's not completely blind. So she could still see, but just not so much to even drive and such. I figured she'd be legally blind, otherwise, it's BS that she can adapt so quickly.

What was that movie with Val Kilmer where he was blind, but was able to see again? I think the movie showed enough material to understand what it is like for completely blind people to see. It was based off of a special case of a person in his 50s/60s (i forgot) who was able to see, but he was never able to focus, didn't know what shadows were, etc etc..


Anyways, that said, we still need to fund stem cell research aggressively. I want the US to be the number one country in the sciences and technology. To be held back from petty arguments is almost pathetic.

The movie was called At First Sight with Val Kilmer and Mira Sorvino. It was based on an essay in the Oliver Sacks anthology called An Anthropologist on Mars.

 

[Tim]

One thing is for certain, there are so many people with large sticks jammed directly up their arses in this world. It's a damn shame that so many of them decided to reply to this thread.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: UpGrD
Maybe I missed something, but can anyone point me to any evidence that Gorge Bush banned stem cell research?

He did not. He did end federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. Stem cells are not just found in embryos though, and embryonic research could and did carry on through private funding.

This is interesting to note:

These restrictions, "provoked a strong pushback by researchers and eventually the public. States began big time funding of embryonic stem cell research, e.g., $3 billion in California and $270 million in New Jersey. And the floodgates of private funding opened, showering hundreds of millions on stem cell researchers. It is highly probable that far more embryos have been used for stem cell research than would have been the case had President Bush not imposed his restrictions.

Although we'll never know for sure, it is also probable that the fear that further limits might be imposed on human embryonic stem cell research intensified the hunt for other sources of stem cells. And the very good news is that these searches have been very successful. Stem cells have been found in fat, testicles, umbilical cord blood and tissue, bone marrow, and, most recently, amniotic fluid. More therapies using adult stem cell should be soon available in the medical marketplace. In fact, stem cell research may be enhanced as states compete to fund the most promising work."
http://www.reason.com/news/show/118069.html

 

[Babbles]

I am almost inclined to make a list of people who make knee-jerk political accusations without actually understanding the material. Then it would be that much easier to gloss over their future posts.

Almost. . . I'm entirely too lazy to do that, though. Anybody want to ride bikes?

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: ChAoTiCpInOy
I have this exact same condition. They need to bring this to America.

Ahh no we don;t. As already pointed out this has not been studied and/or really tested.

Yes, this has been studied. Along with over 70 other treatments derived from non-embryonic stem cells ranging from Parkinson's Disease to various cancers to anemia to heart disease and more.

Yea Bush put science back a bit but even without him we, US, would still not be doing much of any human test like this by now.

Prior to Bush, there was no federal funding for stem cell research. Not for embryonic or non-embryonic stem cells. So, I don't know how exactly he put science back here.

These same cells could leave the area and form cancer or start growing eye tissue else where. So she gets her sight back but dies next year due to a growth in her head.

Its like making a drug and just giving it to anybody without testing to see if it kills you first. And China is the last place I have belief they did any studies for safety.

Safety should be a major concern. Especially after the incident with the Israeli boy who had embryonic stem cells injected into his brain and spine in Russia.

 

[maziwanka]

Originally posted by: Mr Smiley
Great... Another teen on the road.

hahaha

but holy crap is my original response to this story

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: Baked
What a load of made up shit. Everybody knows China is hell on earth according to the Tibetan demi-god dalai lama. They only murder and torture people in that country. :roll:

:roll:

Apparently their olympic PR campaign stuck with some people.

Read about China before you type

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: ChAoTiCpInOy
I have this exact same condition. They need to bring this to America.

Ahh no we don;t. As already pointed out this has not been studied and/or really tested. Yea Bush put science back a bit but even without him we, US, would still not be doing much of any human test like this by now. These same cells could leave the area and form cancer or start growing eye tissue else where. So she gets her sight back but dies next year due to a growth in her head.

Its like making a drug and just giving it to anybody without testing to see if it kills you first. And China is the last place I have belief they did any studies for safety.

Well obviously it has to be tested and vetted by FDA (I think that's who does the testing for it). But considering before I heard this story, I knew there wasn't any research going on about curing this problem, I am very optimistic. This is exactly why we need to open up stem cell research (adult and umbilical only).