2. Uso di cellule Staminali

• Obtaining stem cells from umbilical cords is far less controversial than sourcing them from embryos.

• The use of stem cells derived from embryos evokes strong opposition from those who maintain that embryos deserve full human status.

• Use of stem cells as an adjunct in the treatment of numerous types of cancer, including brain tumors, ovarian cancer, various solid tumors, multiple myeloma, breast cancer, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

• The adult stem cells are purified from bone marrow or circulating blood, preferably from the patient, and, after treatment to destroy the cancer cells, the patient is given back their own purified stem cells.

• Adult stem cells have also been used successfully to treat several autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis, as well as anemias.

• Prentice cited an August report that indicated that the bone marrow stem cells could be changed into neurons that proliferate in cell culture

• Scientists from Duke University Medical Center in the US used a cocktail of steroids and growth factors to retrain cells that would normally form fat tissue into another type of cell known as a chondrocyte, or cartilage cell.

• When genetically engineered growth factor-producing cells were injected into the brains of monkeys, deterioration was reversed in up to 92 percent of diseased brain cells. Nerve cell grafts may repair spinal cord injury i.e. a group of proteins named netrins that act as long-range guidance signals for sprouting nerve cells during development may lead to treatments for regenerating nerves after injury and refined methods of nerve grafting and transplantation.