Teen Returns From China With Ability To See

[tk149]

Teen Returns From China With Ability To See

WELLINGTON, Colo. (CBS4) ?

A teenager from Wellington knows firsthand what stem cells can do.

Macie Morse was born with optic nerve hypoplasia, meaning her optic nerve didn't develop all the way. The only way to repair it was to grow more of the nerve using umbilical cord stem cells.

She and her mother traveled all the way to China for an experimental treatment.

For 6 weeks Morse received injections of cord stem cells and acupuncture to stimulate the cells. Gradually, they took hold and began growing the optic nerve Morse was missing.

"I saw snow fall for the first time," she told CBS4's Shaun Boyd.

"What has been the most beautiful thing?" Boyd asked Morse.

"I'd say many things -- but (probably) my mom's eyes."

"What was it like when she said 'You have green eyes?'" Boyd asked her mother Rochelle.

"My knees went weak. I felt like I had just fallen off a nine story building," Rochelle said.

Morse now has her learner's permit for driving, something her mom never thought she'd see.

"I'm experiencing a miracle," Rochelle said. "This is what it feels like."

The umbilical cord stem cells she had injected have already increased her vision to almost 20/20 and the cells continue to grow more of the nerve.

Morse and her mom are now fighting to bring the therapy to the United States.

for Macie

I can't help but wonder what we could be doing in the U.S. right now if Bush hadn't instituted the funding ban on stem cell research.

Of all the things he did, that one Act could have the most long-term negative consequences.

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

That's amazing. If only life-saving scientific research weren't barred by silly morality and religion...

 

[SagaLore]

Hopefully the injected stem cells stop growing once the optic nerve is completely repaired. Would hate to see this good story turn into a bad story if she ended up with eye tumors.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Who cares if she can see? She's an immoral child murderer :roll:

 

[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:

 

[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.

 

[larry89]

holy crap

 

[SparkyJJO]

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.

Bingo.

 

[Mr Smiley]

Great... Another teen on the road.

 

[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.

 

[jpeyton]

People are going to CHINA for cutting edge medical treatment.

How far in the hole did 8 years of GOP rule put us?

 

[Howard]

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

"this color is green"

EDIT: But I must admit, I left the house today with the ability to see.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
People are going to CHINA for cutting edge medical treatment.

How far in the hole did 8 years of GOP rule put us?

That's not cutting-edge, that's reckless science.

You can't just inject stem cells in there all willy-nilly, hope that the proper signals are received for differentiation, and cross your fingers that the cells which did not implant will get taken out by the host immune system. Oh, right, that's what the accupuncture is for.:roll:

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that she can see...but you better pray that you don't get cancer, kid. And if you do, you better remember that you went to China to get away from the responsible researchers and government regulations which are set up to ensure that therapies are only deployed once they are safe.

 

[So]

Umm...acupuncture? Just injecting stem cells? There has to be more to this. I'm pretty sure you can't just "inject" stem cells and have them magically fix things. If that was the case, wouldn't spinal injuries be a thing of the past?

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: So
Umm...acupuncture? Just injecting stem cells? There has to be more to this. I'm pretty sure you can't just "inject" stem cells and have them magically fix things. If that was the case, wouldn't spinal injuries be a thing of the past?

Speaking of which. I recently saw a program on Discovery(IIRC) regarding China and Stem Cells. One of the people being interviewed was an American Quadraplegic who claimed big improvements after each injection. First his fingers began to work after awhile he was able to crawl. Stem Cells seem to be the real thing, As Sagalore hints at, the longterm affects are still unknown and it is possible for Stem Cells to form Tumours and such.

It's really best to let Research continue to find out all these things before mass deployment.

 

[goog40]

Originally posted by: So
Umm...acupuncture? Just injecting stem cells? There has to be more to this. I'm pretty sure you can't just "inject" stem cells and have them magically fix things. If that was the case, wouldn't spinal injuries be a thing of the past?

http://www.stemcellschina.com/...injury---mr.-maricelli

They've got videos of him walking before and after the treatment.

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: SagaLore
Hopefully the injected stem cells stop growing once the optic nerve is completely repaired. Would hate to see this good story turn into a bad story if she ended up with eye tumors.

eye.

seriously though, it takes a couple of troopers like this to get out that necessary research. Too bad we've been pushed a decade behind the rest of the world.

 

[weflyhigh]

Originally posted by: goog40

Originally posted by: So
Umm...acupuncture? Just injecting stem cells? There has to be more to this. I'm pretty sure you can't just "inject" stem cells and have them magically fix things. If that was the case, wouldn't spinal injuries be a thing of the past?

http://www.stemcellschina.com/...injury---mr.-maricelli

They've got videos of him walking before and after the treatment.

doesnt look like anything therapy couldnt do

 

[goog40]

It had been 5 years since his injury and he had already done extensive therapy during that time though, only to get to the state he was in before the treatment.

 

[ELopes580]

Who's up to go to China?

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: weflyhigh

Originally posted by: goog40

Originally posted by: So
Umm...acupuncture? Just injecting stem cells? There has to be more to this. I'm pretty sure you can't just "inject" stem cells and have them magically fix things. If that was the case, wouldn't spinal injuries be a thing of the past?

http://www.stemcellschina.com/...injury---mr.-maricelli

They've got videos of him walking before and after the treatment.

doesnt look like anything therapy couldnt do

Eh...it's pretty naive to assume that NONE of the stem cells will engraft, receive the correct signals, and proliferate. However, it's also naive to assume that ALL of the ones which did not engraft will die, instead of (for example) engrafting somewhere else and causing cancer. I do NOT approve of China's take on stem cell therapy. It's recklessly dangerous, and gives a bad name to science when it fails.

 

[pstylesss]

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.

This. People are dumbasses and don't know the god damned difference between stem cells and embryonic stems cells. fuckwits.

 

[lupi]

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.

because you can't make retarded statements like

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
Who cares if she can see? She's an immoral child murderer :roll:

Originally posted by: jpeyton
People are going to CHINA for cutting edge medical treatment.

How far in the hole did 8 years of GOP rule put us?

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
That's amazing. If only life-saving scientific research weren't barred by silly morality and religion...

if you were to concern yourself with such facts.

 

[jpeyton]

Nuff said.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

How would someone who has never seen before know what green looks like?