Thousands Volunteer for New Stem Cell Research Program – Human Cloning Foundation

The Human Cloning Foundation said researchers in South Korea have been overwhelmed by thousands of requests to participate in a new stem cell research program aimed at helping patients with Parkinson's Disease and spinal cord damage.

HCF spokesman David Madrigal, citing reports from the Life News service (http://www.lifenews.com/bio1175.html) said that the day registration for the program opened, 3,000 people signed up immediately. Applications continue to pour in though only 100 applicants will be chosen to participate in clinical trials.

According to Life News, those chosen will be subjected to test experiments whereby scientists collect stem cells from the patients and clone them. The patients then begin stem cell therapies.

"About 100 patients suffering from neurological illnesses including spinal cord damage and Parkinson's disease will be selected," Ahn Cu-rie of the Seoul National University's Medical School told Life News. Ahn heads the project and is building on work by cloning pioneer Dr. Hwang Woo-suk. She said the project will be conducted in nine separate research facilities in South Korea and abroad.

Patients will be chosen according to the extent of their illness or damage, how long ago their symptoms or injuries began, and whether or not they are likely going to benefit from the therapies.

Once cloned, the stem cells will be used in a series of tests on primates to determine if they will be useful.

Madrigal said adult stem cell research has already been proven successful in treating patients with spinal cord injuries.

"Korean scientists have used umbilical cord blood stem cells to restore feeling and mobility to a spinal cord injury patient," said Madrigal, citing a report published in Cythotherapy.

Life News said, in that instance, the patient was a woman who had been paraplegic from an accident for more than 19 years. She had surgery and also an infusion of umbilical cord blood stem cells. "Not only did the patient regain feeling, but 41 days after [stem cell] transplantation testing, also showed regeneration of the spinal cord at the injured site and below it," said Life News.

Contact: David Madrigal
Spokesman, Human Cloning Foundation
humancloning.david@gmail.com
www.humancloning.org