Therapy for terminally ill on

THE scientist who created Dolly the sheep, the world’s first cloned mammal, said stem cell therapy should be used on terminally-ill patients. This was in an interview published recently.
Experimental treatment could save lives or at least speed up the pace of research, Prof. Ian Wilmut told Scotland’s Scotsman newspaper. Wilmut said he knew patients willing to take part in such trials.
“I’ve come across people who have neuro-degenerative disease who face a steady, slow decline and premature death, a very unpleasant situation. They would be only too keen to participate in trials,” he said.
“If we wait until things are totally tested and analysed in animals, it will deny some people that treatment.”
Wilmut said treatments which have not been properly tested should nevertheless be used in such a situation because the benefits may outweigh the risk.
He added, “If we wait until all the tests have been done, some patients would have passed away.”
Stem cells are master cells that experts say can develop into any organ. They could have a valuable therapeutic use in treating illnesses ranging from cancer to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, according to experts.
Wilmut is director of Edinburgh University’s new Centre for Regenerative Medicine.

AFP