All of the current trials use Biological: MA09-hRPE Cellular therapy The RPE's were derived from the MA09 cell line. The single blastomere technique was used but embryo not preserved.
Yes the embryo was discarded. They were perfecting the Blastomere technology. If they wanted to use a Blastomere cell that was not destroyed, they would have had to start all over with the FDA.
"did they seriously sy they destroyed the embryos on CNN ? ……. does anyone knoww if CNN was misinformed or if they did destroy the embryo for this study ?"
The evangelicals, etc., probably intentionally, always get this wrong but the media usually seems to mangle it as well. The RPE cells currently being used were derived from the ACTC MA09 hESC line. ACTC in a series of ten separate experiments demonstrated that hES cells can be derived from single blastomeres without the destruction of the embryo. Although the procedure for creating the new stem cell lines did not entail destruction of the embryo, it was decided, well after the studies were completed, to discard (ie destroy) the embryo since it had been donated for research and was never going to be used. Again, many out there like to get this wrong and others, such as many in the media, are still under the spell of the piles of Bush Administration propaganda that was aimed misrepresenting especially hESC stem cell issues. Here is a summary of the MA09 derivation and the url for the full paper:
Human embryonic stem cell lines derived from single blastomeres
Irina Klimanskaya1*, Young Chung1*, Sandy Becker1, Shi-Jiang Lu1 & Robert Lanza1 The derivation of human embryonic stem (hES) cells currently requires the destruction of ex utero embryos1–4. A previous study in mice indicates that it might be possible to generate embryonic stem (ES) cells using a single-cell biopsy similar to that used in preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), which does not inter- fere with the embryo’s developmental potential5. By growing the single blastomere overnight, the resulting cells could be used for both genetic testing and stem cell derivation without affecting the clinical outcome of the procedure. Here we report a series of ten separate experiments demonstrating that hES cells can be derived from single blastomeres. In this proof-of-principle study, multiple biopsies were taken from each embryo using micromanipulation techniques and none of the biopsied embryos were allowed to develop in culture. Nineteen ES-cell-like outgrowths and two stable hES cell lines were obtained. The latter hES cell lines main- tained undifferentiated proliferation for more than eight months, and showed normal karyotype and expression of markers of pluri- potency, including Oct-4, SSEA-3, SSEA-4, TRA-1-60, TRA-1-81, nanog and alkaline phosphatase. These cells retained the potential to form derivatives of all three embryonic germ layers both in vitro and in teratomas. The ability to create new stem cell lines and therapies without destroying embryos would address the ethical concerns of many, and allow the generation of matched tissue for children and siblings born from transferred PGD embryos.
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