Catherina McCauley, who last month was told that the Irish hospital in which she planned to give birth would not honor her request to have her child’s umbilical cord blood collected, is delighted that Cavan General has changed their minds. In order to get the hospital to do it, McCauley has had to sign a waiver that clears the hospital of liability if the procedure fails. Said McCauley: “I am delighted. It is one less thing to worry about when I am in labor. I have to sign a legal document to cover the hospital’s liability concerns, but I really feel that progress has been made.” Full details of the agreement have not been released. However, it is believed that the hospital changed its mind after McCauley told her story to The Sunday Times and had to deal with media pressure afterwards. McCauley says that, after her story was printed, medical professionals all over Ireland offered to do the collection for her after her birth. Ireland does not have a national policy regarding the collection of umbilical cord blood and many hospitals refuse to do it saying that there is not enough research to justify collect the blood. Dearbhail McDonald,TimesOnline.co.ukJune 6, 2006
Harvard Researchers Start Human Cell Project
Harvard University researchers have announced plans to begin work on cloning human embryos in order to harvest stem cells. Investigators will examine just how stem cells from embryos are programmed and attempt to correct any defects or errors within the stem cell before returning the cells to the body, where it is hoped they will be able to combat a number of diseases including diabetes and Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS). Dr. George Daley of Children’s Hospital in Boston said: “Our long-term goal is to create embryonic stem cells from a patient’s tissues, correct the genetic defects, and get the repaired cells back into the patients.” First, though, they will use leftover embryos from a Harvard fertility clinic as well as eggs from women who are willing to donate in order to remove the nucleus from a cell from a week-old embryo and transfer it into an egg. They will then reprogram the egg so that it can develop into an embryo. Because their project involves the use of embryonic stem cells, there is some controversy over it. However, the scientists say that their work has been carefully reviewed and they plan to follow very strict guidelines. Additionally, funding for the project will be made possible strictly through private donations, no public funds will be used. Few details of the project have been released. Researchers said that they were only discussing their work before the study is published due to the high public interest in it. Svea Herbst-Bayliss, Reuters.com
