London, October 20 (ANI): A U.K. Government proposal to allow the use of human tissues taken from the mentally infirm without their consent, to create embryos for experimentation, has given rise to a fresh controversy.

The proposal is part of the controversial Parliament of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.

On Wednesday MPs will vote on the bill that proposes to allow the creation of human/animal hybrid embryos to be used for stem cell research, to change the conditions for granting IVF, and to liberalise the abortion laws.

Medical ethics experts and religious leaders say that the provisions about allowing tissues to be used from people who lack the "mental capacity" to give consent, children whose parents give permission, and anyone who has previously donated samples to hospitals for medical research but can no longer be traced rides ride roughshod over basic human rights.

"In May we had a public debate about whether or not it is a good thing to create hybrid embryos," the Telegraph quoted Professor David Jones, director of the Centre for Bioethics and Emerging Technologies at St Mary's University College, London, as saying.

"Now it transpires that just weeks later, with no public debate at all, the Government inserted these amendments which cross a fundamental line in medical ethics by presuming consent in many cases. I think it is totally objectionable, and I really worry that this will create a backlash against medical research," he added.

He contends that such a law could cause people with strong ethical concerns about the creation of embryos to have their original wishes overruled, if they developed a disease like Alzheimers.

Prof. John Haldane, director of the Centre for Philosophy and Public Affairs at the University of St Andrews, also opposed the draft legislation by saying that it would sweep away 25 years of progress in medical ethics.

"The most intimate thing over which you have control is your body and its fate; and this is total violation of that basic right," he said.

The bill calls for allowing the carer of an infirm person, who is unable to give his or her consent, to make a decision. Just in case the person does not have a carer, researchers will be able to nominate a person to make the judgement.

Labour MP Dr Ian Gibson, a member of the committee that passed the amendments proposed by public health minister Dawn Primarolo, said that Parliament was making major changes with little consideration and almost no public debate.

"I am really worried that this whole debate has become hijacked by the issue of abortion, and that really significant issues like this have not had a good airing, and are unlikely to do so this week when the bill gets to its final stage, despite the fact this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make some fundamental decisions," he said.

Expressing his personal opposition to the use of tissue without consent, he said: "There has to be consent, there can be no substitution for it. If you are not sure it is what the person would have wanted, that is just not good enough," he said.

Describing the changes to the bill as a "macabre" prospect, Jim McManus from the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales said: "This is a reckless step backwards, and it rides roughshod over a basic human right."

Scientists, on the other hand, insist that combining animal embryos with human cells could serve as a solution to the problem of less number of donationa of human embryos, which has been obstructing the expansion of research into the development and treatment of different diseases.

Catherine Elliot, from the Medical Research Council, said that research would "rarely" be carried out without consent, as the amendment would require ethics committees to be satisfied that the same research could not have been carried out using tissue from patients who had granted permission. (ANI)

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London, Oct 20 (ANI): Scientists have discovered how the common childhood tumour, infantile hemangioma, grows rapidly.

Infantile hemangioma, made up of proliferating blood vessels is more frequently found in girls than boys. The tumour growth starts within days of birth-most often as a single, blood-red lump on the head or face-then grow rapidly in the following months. It slows later in childhood, and most tumours disappear entirely by the end of puberty.

But, despite being benign, the tumours can still lead to disfigurement or clinical complications. The new study could lead to a potential, non-invasive treatment for the condition.

The scientists focussed their study on tissue isolated from nine distinct hemangioma tumors and found that the endothelial cells lining the affected blood vessels were all derived from the same abnormal cell.

Just like other tumors, hemangiomas are caused by the abnormal proliferation of tissue. And as the self-replicating tendency was specific to endothelial cells, they were named as the source of the tumors' growth.

Later, the researchers found that the endothelial cells behaved as if were activated by a hormone called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which usually binds to a specific receptor, one that sits on the outskirts of the cell and prevents VEGF from telling the cell to proliferate.

But, the researchers closed in on at least two gene mutations that could trigger a chain of events that ultimately stymied those receptors, enabling VEGF to trigger unchecked growth in the endothelial cells.

According to study leader Bjorn R. Olsen, the Hersey Professor of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Developmental Biology and Dean for Research at Harvard School of Dental Medicine, the findings pave the way for new treatment options,

"What the data suggests is that any therapy that is directed against vascular endothelial growth factor - anti-VEGF therapy - is the rational therapy to use in these tumors," Nature quoted Olsen, as sayiing.

The findings may prove to be good news to the many children and families affected by the disorder.

While the majority of cases have little impact on children's lives and many cases go unnoticed, according to estimates 10 percent of infantile hemangioma sufferers experience significant side-effects.

These can include psychological stress brought on by the social challenges of disfigurement, as well as physical complications caused by large, badly-placed tumours that obstruct vision, respiration, or other bodily functions.

Anti-VEGF therapies have already been approved for other conditions, including macular degeneration and certain types of cancer. The next step for Olsen's team is to get approval to test these therapies in clinical trials.

The findings will be published in the latest issue of Nature Medicine. (ANI)

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Washington, Oct 20 (ANI): US researchers have found that a single vaccine could be used to protect chickens, cats and humans against deadly flu pandemics.

Based on a bird flu virus, the vaccine provides protection to birds and mammals against different flu strains and can even be given to birds while they are still in their eggs, allowing the mass vaccination of wild birds.

"The world is experiencing a pandemic of influenza in birds caused by an H5N1 virus. The H5N1 virus also has an unusual expanded host range: not only birds and humans have been infected but also cats, which are usually resistant to influenza. To prepare for a pandemic, it would be ideal to have a vaccine that could be used in multiple animal species," said Professor Daniel Perez from the University of Maryland, USA.

The researchers found that the central genes or 'backbone' of the H9N2 virus that infects guinea fowl can protect birds and mice against highly pathogenic strains of influenza.

They modified the virus to make it less pathogenic and then used it to vaccinate mice. Three weeks after being vaccinated, the mice were infected with the potentially lethal H1N1 virus - the same virus that caused the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.

All the vaccinated mice survived with no signs of disease. Vaccinated mice also survived infection with the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, again showing no signs of disease.

"Our results show that the H9N2 backbone vaccine can be used to protect mice against two different, highly pathogenic strains of influenza. We chose genes from H9N2 influenza for the vaccine because the virus can infect many different animals, including chickens, mice and pigs," said Perez.

"A very important limitation in the current design of flu vaccines is that they are usually species specific. Our approach involves a universal backbone that can be used in several different species, including humans," Perez added.

The researchers also found that this live attenuated virus provided effective protection when it was administered to birds before they had hatched.

"By vaccinating eggs against influenza, we could protect wild bird species as well as domestic chickens against pandemic flu strains, limiting the spread of disease to humans," said Perez.

The study is published in the November issue of the Journal of General Virology. (ANI)

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London, October 20 (ANI): Johns Hopkins researchers have found in experiments conducted on rat models of ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease, that transplanting a new line of stem cell-like cells reduces neuron loss, and extends life.

Dr. Nicholas Maragakis, an associate professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins who led the research team, says that the new work supports the hypothesis that artificially outnumbering unhealthy cells with healthy ones in targeted parts of the spinal cord preserves limb strength and breathing and can increase survival.

The study suggested parts of the cervical spinal cord that control the diaphragm muscles, which are largely responsible for breathing, might reap the most benefit from such a therapy. That was so because 47 percent more motor neurons survived there than in untreated model animals.

Respiratory failure from diaphragm weakness is the usual cause of death in ALS.

"While the added cells, in the long run, didn't save all of the nerves to the diaphragm, they did maintain its nerve's ability to function and stave off death significantly longer," Nature Neuroscience quoted Maragakis as saying.

"We intentionally targeted the motor neurons in this region since we knew that, as in ALS, their death results in respiratory decline," he added.

The study also suggested that the transplanted cells, called glial restricted precursors (GRPs), could address a well-known flaw in people with ALS and in its animal models - stunted ability to clear away the neurotransmitter glutamate.

Excess glutamate overstimulates the motor neurons that spark muscle movement, causing death. The event, called excitotoxicity, also occurs in other neurological diseases.

According to the researchers, their study adds gives more strength to the proposition that finding more effective ways to avoid or lessen excitotoxicity, a major bad guy in ALS, could help protect the nervous system.

During the study, the researchers had transplanted about 900,000 glial restricted precursors overall to specific sites in the cervical spinal cord of each model rat in early stages of disease.

They were amazed to find that none of the GRPs damaged the spinal cord or formed tumours, a worry with some stem cell therapies.

"This targeted cell delivery to the cervical spinal cord is a promising strategy to slow that loss of motor neurons in ALS. We hope at some point that these principles will translate to the clinic," said Maragakis. (ANI)

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