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Published Thursday, November 20, 2008 in Local

Mercer stem cell researcher talks at CEC

By Brenda Pedraza-Vidamour

The Times-Herald

Dr. Henry Young, expert on adult stem cell research, spoke to biology and medical profession students at Central Educational Center in Newnan about his research Thursday morning.

Unlike the controversial embryonic stem cell research, adult stem cell research involves extracting cells venally (from marrow) or from cadaveric or live adult tissue, such as the skin or muscle. They are the cells many scientists believed didn't exist when Young started his research 30 years ago.

Today, four types of stem cells are recognized: embryonic, amniotic, umbilical cord and adult.

Proof that adult stem cells exist and have viable medical applications has received lots of international attention recently following some work five months ago by doctors in Bristol, England, and Barcelona, Spain. The doctors used adult stem cells to create a new windpipe in a Bristol lab for transplantation into a 30-year-old Colombian woman.

The stem cells were harvested from the trachea of a 51-year-old who died and the woman's own bone marrow. The lab-made windpipe was then transplanted into Claudia Castillo in Barcelona. She has suffered no complications nor risked rejection since her body recognizes that new section of her trachea as her own.

The work is regarded as a medical milestone and precursor to "a new age in surgical care," per Wednesday's report on CNN.

Young, a professor of anatomy at the Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, said the international team's work proves that adult stem cell transplants work, and could be more successful because patients aren't required to take the necessary anti-rejection drugs to help the body accept the organ. Young explained transplant patients eventually require a second transplant -- a kidney transplant -- within 10-15 years after their original transplant because of the body's reaction to the donor antigens.

In a two-and-one-half-hour series of slide show presentations, Young explained how embryonic stem cells are derived and how his lab has isolated, classified and characterized adult stem cells. In response to a question, Young explained why he chose adult over embryonic stem cell research.

"A lot of the public finds a moral and ethical dilemma with stem cell research. With me, personally, I chose adult stem cell because I have an issue with embryonic stem cell research, but there's a need for embryonic stem cell research. We're not allowed to do research on embryos so embryonic stem cell research should go forward and be funded for treatment of embryos and fetuses in the womb. I've made my choice, and I let other people make their choices."

Young, who also serves as an adjunct professor in Mercer's departments of pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, is credited with discovering the adult totipotent blastomere-like stem cells (BLSCs), adult pluripotent epiblast-like stem cells (ELSCs) and adult-derived germ layer stem cells (GLSCs). He has 11 current and pending patents, which he pointed out aren't to protect any profitable interests, but to further medical research.

"I believe in the Wal-Mart approach rather than the Mercedes approach -- high value and low cost. I want to see people treated rather than make lots of money," he said.

Young covered with the crowd of about 150 students the extensive medical applications of adult stem cells and what makes them better for medical application including a quiescent characteristic, which means the cells don't spontaneously differentiate (break down into a lot of other different cells) like embryonic stem cells. Young explained the cells act much like his 17-year-old daughter who sits on the couch all day and won't do anything until somebody tells her what to do. The cells' quiescence allows researchers the ability to regulate and control their differentiation.

Young said there's interest in stem cell research because of the varying medical uses. One ongoing problem with it, however, is that there are still shortages in numbers of donors and research is slow-paced. He encouraged students to make tissue donations, volunteer to do research work and spread the word about clinical trials. Currently, the Mercer lab has 17 patients involved in experimental trials who are being treated for various disorders ranging from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to Parkinson's disease.

Barbara Rickles, a biotechnology teacher at CEC, invited Young to speak after meeting him at a conference last summer. Included in the audience were students from her biotechnology class, AP biology classes from Coweta's three public high schools and nursing students from CEC and West Central Technical College.

Bret Eady, a Northgate High School junior, said Young's work was fascinating.

"I just thought it was really interesting that you have cells in your body now that can still mimic the cells you had as an infant," he said.

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