4/23/14 Artificial Blood 'Will Be Manufactured in Factories' ♦ Doctors Implant Lab-grown Vagina ♦ Protein May Kill Brain Cells as Parkinson’s Progresses ♦ Flu Drugs May do More Harm Than Good

'Will Be Manufactured in Factories'

Wellcome Trust-funded stem cell research has produced red blood cells fit for transfusion into humans, paving the way for the mass production of blood. But the production of blood on an industrial scale could become a reality once a trial is conducted in which artificial blood made from human stem cells is tested in patients for the first time. Continue Reading

Doctors Implant Lab-grown Vagina

Four women have had new vaginas grown in the laboratory and implanted by doctors in the US. A tissue sample and a biodegradable scaffold were used to grow vaginas in the right size and shape for each woman as well as being a tissue match. They all reported normal levels of "desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction" and painless intercourse. Continue Reading

Too Much Protein May Kill Brain Cells as Parkinson’s Progresses

Scientists may have discovered how the most common genetic cause of Parkinson’s disease destroys brain cells and devastates many patients worldwide.  The study was partially funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS); the results may help scientists develop new therapies. “This may be a major discovery for Parkinson’s disease patients,” said Ted Dawson, M.D., Ph.D.Source: Continue Reading

Flu Drugs May do More Harm Than Good, Researchers Find

Tamiflu and Relenza, antiviral drugs stockpiled by governments to tame influenza outbreaks, haven’t been proven to prevent pandemics and may cause more harm in some patients than good, researchers said after reviewing 170,000 pages of clinical-trial data.: Continue Reading

4/6/14 Health News: Development of Safe Artificial Blood ♦ Discovery Could Spawn Treatments for Cancer or Common Cold ♦ Self-healing Muscle Grown in the Lab

FDA Study Findings Could Facilitate Development of Safe Artificial Blood

The results of a study by scientists at the US Food and Drug Administration could help to simplify the design of a therapy for certain complications of sickle cell anemia, malaria, and other diseases in which red blood cells break apart. The finding also offers important insights into the development of safe and effective hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers for use in treating individuals suffering significant blood loss due to trauma. The potential therapy would use the blood protein haptoglobin to block the highly destructive chemical reactions triggered by hemoglobin when it escapes red blood cells that have broken apart. Continue Reading

Cell Metabolism Discovery Could Spawn Treatments for Cancer or Common Cold

Scientists at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have published the first study that explains how viruses reprogram the cells they invade to promote their continued growth within an organism. This knowledge could have implications in cancer treatments based on similarities between viruses and cancer cell mechanisms, and even lead to drugs that could inhibit the virus that causes the common cold. Continue Reading

Self-healing Muscle Grown in the Lab

Scientists have grown living muscle in the lab that not only looks and works like the real thing, but also heals by itself - a significant step in tissue engineering. Ultimately, they hope the lab-grown muscle could be used to repair damage in humans. So far trials have tested this out in mice.. The Duke University researchers say their success was down to creating the perfect environment for muscle growth - well-developed contractile muscle fibres and a pool of immature stem cells, known as satellite cells that could develop into muscle tissue. Continue Reading