SO WHERE DOES THE DEATH LOBBY GO TO BUY BACK THEIR SOULS?:

Scientists Help Multiple Sclerosis Patients Without Embryonic Stem Cells (Steven Ertelt, August 14, 2007, LifeNews.com)

Scientists in England have developed a vaccine that, in early testing, appears to help patients with multiple sclerosis without relying on controversial embryonic stem cells. [...]

Wesley J. Smith, a noted author and attorney who is one of the leading bioethics watchdogs, said the slowing of the progress of the MS disease occurred without the use of embryonic stem cells.

"We've heard the mantra repeatedly: embryonic stem cells are the only hope (or the best hope) for curing this disease and that disease. But the evidence continues to grow that this just isn't true," he said in response to the study.

"Adult stem cells have stopped the progression of the disabling disease in Stage 2 human trials. Now, a different approach in early human trials is also showing promise," he added.

"There is so much going on in biotechnology that has nothing to do with cloning and ESCR," Smith concluded. "It's time to stop the hype and acknowledge that embryonic stem cell research is merely one of many potential biotechnological approaches for treating diseases--most of the others being utterly non morally contentious."

British Researchers See Normal Brain Activity in Another "PVS" Patient (Steven Ertelt, August 14, 2007, LifeNews.com)

British researchers say that scans of the brain activity of a disabled woman there show normal levels despite a diagnosis from doctors that she is supposedly in a persistent vegetative state. This is the second time the research have found normal brain activity in a PVS patient.

Adrian Owen and other scientists at Cambridge University reported on Monday about the findings of their new study, which shows that researchers may be able to predict which comatose patients can recover.

Owen and his team used functional magnetic resonance imaging to look at the activity in the patient's brain and asked the female patient to imagine she was walking through her home. After the request, her brain lit up with activity in the parts of the brain expected to function.

The Archives of Neurology journal article said the patient's brain showed about the same activity as healthy people.

Posted by Orrin Judd at August 14, 2007 8:32 PM