By Dave Andrusko

Part Two describes additional breakthroughs using adult stem cells, not stem cells scavenged from human embryos. But before discussing this encouraging news, let me go to the opposite extreme by quoting the first six sentences of a story from the Allentown Morning Call headlined, “Charges dropped in attack over abortion case.” It reads,

“A former Bethlehem [Pennsylvania] man accused of putting a gun in his girlfriend's mouth because she wouldn't get an abortion saw the case against him dropped on Thursday. Jonathan R. Stock, 28, of Hackettstown, N.J., appeared for his preliminary hearing, but the woman he was accused of attacking didn't. That led to prosecutors withdrawing charges that included aggravated assault.

“Authorities say Stock is a member of the Pagans motorcycle gang and District Judge James Narlesky's hearing was held at the county courthouse in Easton for security. But without the testimony of now-ex-girlfriend Tammy Smith, 31, the prosecution's case couldn't proceed.

''’She's concerned for her safety,’' Assistant District Attorney Patricia Mulqueen said of Smith's absence.”

Cases such as these should always be kept in mind whenever you hear about women exercising their “choice” to abort. If you go by what volunteers at women helping centers say (and who would know better?), this very often is not the case.
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When pro-abortion President Barack Obama opened the floodgates to federal financing of research that depends on the lethal extraction of stem cells from human embryos, you read a river of articles about the “promise” of this unethical research. By contrast, although information is available, you have to cruise around the Internet to find the many examples of great progress made using adult stem cells. Let me highlight just a few of the most recent promising examples.

Yesterday on his blog, Dr. David Prentice summarized a story about “Gluing Bones Back Together with Adult Stem Cells.” He wrote,

“Doctors in the U.K. have used a man’s own adult stem cells mixed with a collagen paste to repair his fractured leg. Andrew Kent broke his leg in five places including a compound fracture, while rock climbing, when a large boulder fell on his leg. After three operations, the bones were still not setting and the wound became infected. Mr. Kent was told that he was likely to lose his leg. The bones were broken so badly that traditional surgery failed. Orthopedic surgeon Anan Shetty offered an alternative. He took some of Mr. Kent’s bone marrow adult stem cells, mixed them with a new collagen gel called Cartifill to make a paste, and caulked the fractures with the mixture. Then the leg was fixed in a metal cage to gently squeeze the bones together. Six months later, the leg can hold weight and the fractures are healing. “ (www.frcblog.com.)

Jumping over to CNN, we read about the results of one study that a doctor described as “a milestone in stem cell research, and for patients.” Dr. Jeffrey Karp was describing research published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology that raises the possibility of using adult stem cells to reverse the damage done from a first heart attack.

“An intravenous method of injecting stem cells into patients who had experienced heart attacks within the previous 10 days suggested that this method works to repair -- not just manage -- heart damage,” writes CNN’s Elizabeth Landau.

According to CNN, researchers used Prochymal, a mesenchymal stem cell therapy. “The drug, which consists of stem cells from donor bone marrow, gets injected into the vein,” Landau writes. “The cells then travel through the bloodstream and take up residence in the heart. Mesenchymal stem cells have some natural homing capability, and injury serves as a homing beacon for them, Karp said. The stem cells reduce the amount of scar tissue and increase the pumping strength of the heart in heart attack patients, Hare said. To a limited extent, they also grow new heart muscle.”

Landau writes, “The trial has moved on to phase II, which is taking place in 50 hospitals in the United States, said Dr. Joshua Hare, director of the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine and lead author of the study.” Phase I was to show safety.

Finally, there is additional research coming out of Australia that uses bone marrow stem cells to combat Multiple Sclerosis. We’ll talk about that on Monday.

Part Three