Bristol University again.  They were part of the team that made the new windpipe from stem cells.  They were also in the news this week for making a "living" band-aid using the patient's own Repair Stem Cells. The "living" band-aid can be used to heal tears to the meniscal cartilage- a common sporting injury.

Many are men and women in their twenties and thirties and the tears are frequently the result of twisting the leg during jogging, football, rugby, horse riding or skiing.

The footballers Martin Petrov, a winger for Manchester City, and John Kennedy, the Celtic and Scotland player, have reportedly got the injury.

At the moment attempts to sew together ripped meniscal cartilage are often unsuccessful and can result in players spending a long time off the pitch undergoing rehabilitation.

Many sportsmen opt to have the tissue removed. Removal of the loose cartilage allows the athletes to recover but it leaves bones in the knees exposed and osteoarthritis may develop.

Scientists at Bristol University have now managed to heal cartilage tissue in a laboratory with stem cells taken from a patient's own bone marrow. They used the cells to coat a sponge-like scaffold, made from collagen (a fibrous protein) and placed it inside the tear in the cartilage. The stem cells pulled the two pieces of torn cartilage together.

“The stem cells knit across the two sides of the lesion and cause a reuniting of the two sides. We hope that in the patient we can reunite the cartilage in a strong enough way to heal the wound completely.

Bristol University- you did it again.  I have to take off my hat to this University in the United Kingdom that has been responsible for two big Adult Stem Cell discoveries just this week!

Here is the new cartilage story

Well, this is truly amazing. Thanks to Adult Stem Cell research or as I like to say REPAIR Stem Cell research, doctors have been able to create a new windpipe (trachea) for a woman using her own REPAIR Stem Cells.

Claudia Castillo caught tuberculosis which in turn caused her trachea to collapse. It was sinking into her lung and the doctors were thinking they would have to remove the lung in a dangerous procedure that even if successful wouldn't have left Claudia Castillo with a good quality of life.

They decided instead to make her a new trachea. They extracted Adult Stem Cells from her bone marrow, grew and multiplied them and coaxed them into becoming cartilage cells. Next, they took a trachea from a deceased donor and sterilized it, erasing the cells from it so when implanted would cause no rejection issues.

Then, using a special machine, they grew the new Adult (REPAIR) Stem Cells around the donated trachea with the trachea acting as a scaffold. The Repair Stem Cells did the rest as they are made to do. They formed a new trachea and then it was implanted back into Claudia Castillo.

Walla!!! A brand new windpipe, one composed entirely of her own cells. A new windpipe for which she does not have to take immuno-suppressing drugs for the rest of her life because her body will not reject what is made of her own Repair Stem Cells.

This truly wonderful story has made all the major news outlets. And what is also wonderful is that these media outlets that once ignored Adult Stem Cell success stories and only trumpeted Embryonic Stem Cell research are now forced to take notice and acknowledge that it was indeed Adult Stem Cells that are responsible for this miracle:

From the New York Times: Anthony Hollander, a professor at Bristol University, said ethical concerns relating to embryonic stem cell research had not surfaced in the latest procedure because it had used only the patient's own stem cells. “This was not embryonic stem cell research, he said in a telephone interview.

From CNN: So, her doctors decided to build her a new airway, using adult stem cells taken from her bone marrow, not from the embryonic stem cells that cause so much controversy. It has never been done before in a human.

From Bloomberg: The donor windpipe, or trachea, was washed 25 times to strip away all vestiges of live tissue, which could trigger rejection, then coated with cartilage cells grown from Castillo's own adult stem cells to trick her body into accepting the transplant, the doctors said in The Lancet.

As a sidenote- this whole process which took years of planning and hundreds of hours of work on research and production almost was ruined when EasyJet refused to allow the new windpipe on board their airplane. Remember, the cells can only survive for a limited time outside the lab or human body. So they took the new windpipe out of the lab and tried to board the plane to take it to Barcelona where Ms. Castillo and a team of surgeons were eagerly waiting. When EasyJet refused to allow it on board, the quick thinking doctors had to find another way to get the windpipe to Barcelona with the clock ticking. The BBC has more on this.

Dear Friends:

The Repair Stem Cell Institute's own Shimon Slavin is in the news today. His Repair Stem Cell treatment for Multiple Sclerosis has enabled Canadian Golf Pro Louise Zylstra to get back onto the golf course after suffering from that condition.

In 2007, Louise was diagnosed with primary progressive Multiple Sclerosis. By 2008, the MS had progressed so that she was no longer able to golf and had difficulty even walking short distances. Doctors told her that she would be in a wheelchair within 2 years.

With not much to lose, Louise traveled to Israel to receive her Repair stem cells taken from her own bone marrow. How did it turn out?

Eight months after travelling to Israel for the treatment, Louise is back on the golf course.

"It's night and day," Zylstra said. "It's a complete 180 from where I was."

Given the progressive nature of Zylstra's MS, such a recovery would have been highly unlikely without the treatment, Freedman said.

"She's recovered substantial function very quickly," Freedman said. "She's out golfing, and out-golfing most people, which is quite incredible."

Early data from about 25 patients suggests that the mesenchymal stem cell treatment can repair existing damage to the nerve cells, Dr. Shimon Slavin of the Tel Aviv Medical Centre told CTV News.

"The secret is to do the treatment of choice in the early stages of the disease before irreversible changes occur," Slavin said.

Now that we know the secret- let's make it move available, let's get the word out and let's get some more Multiple Sclerosis patients treated with their own Repair Stem Cells. No side effects so the only way to go is improvement.

If you or someone you know has Multiple Sclerosis and are interested in stem cell treatment, please email Dr. Slavin- slavinmd@gmail.com

Click here for the whole MS Stem Cell story

Just last week, I brought you the story of a young boy, Karol LaBarrie, who was cured of his Sickle Cell Anemia by using Adult Stem Cells taken from the cord blood of his younger brother. And this week, I am happy to bring you a similar story.

Michael Emms, a young man from Wales, had been living a perfectly normal life. Suddenly, without warning at the age of 21, Michael was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. Michael was believed to be one of the youngest ever to be stricken with this disease.

Some of you may also know that it is the same disease that the famous physics genius, Stephen Hawking is afflicted with.

Luckily, Michael's parents were going to have another child, and decided to save the umbilical cord blood stem cells and use them on Michael.

Fortunately, all went according to plan.  Rhys Emms was born, the cord blood stem cells were saved and frozen.  Then, Michael and the stem cells were flown to China where there were experienced stem cell doctors who were willing to implant the matching stem cells into Michael.

The doctors said without the stem cell treatment, Michael would have likely died in March of 2008.  But look now, it is November 2008 and things have changed thanks to the adult stem cells:

And even though it took half a year to notice any change in his condition, amazingly Michael's muscles started to grow back.

“It paid off because the treatment in China went very well, Julian said. “He is nothing like what he was before. There has been no deterioration over the last year.

“Over there we didn't see a marked change. But during the following three to six months there was muscle growth. His shoulder had more definition and the muscle was coming back. He still has to be aided to walk, but he's not wheelchair-bound anymore.

Click here to see this wonderful stem cell story still in progress.