-----Original Message----- From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org] On Behalf Of Kevin Robert Dean
Argh! First we have the Laci Peterson law and now this?
Posted on Sat, Feb. 05, 2005
Couple May Sue Over Discarded Embryo
Associated Press
CHICAGO - A couple whose frozen embryo was accidentally destroyed at a fertility clinic has the right in Illinois to file a wrongful-death lawsuit, a judge has ruled in a case that some legal experts say could have implications in the debate over embryonic stem cell research.
In an opinion issued Friday, Cook County Judge Jeffrey Lawrence said "a pre-embryo is a 'human being' ... whether or not it is implanted in its mother's womb."
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How about an infant's teeth?
http://archives.econ.utah.edu/archives/pen-l/2003w16/msg00032.htm NewScientist.com news service Baby teeth revealed as source of stem cells 22:00 21 April 03 Catherine Zandonella
The tooth fairy could soon face competition for baby teeth from scientists who have discovered the teeth are a source of stem cells. The cells could help repair damaged teeth and perhaps even treat neural injuries or degenerative diseases.
Currently, researchers can isolate two types of stem cells. Embryonic stem cells can develop into any cell in the body, but their harvesting requires the destruction of embryos, which pro-life groups oppose. Adult stem cells avoid this problem, but have more limited abilities. Now it appears that the stem cells from children's lost teeth could provide an intermediate and easily accessible source.
"These stem cells seem to grow faster and have more potential to differentiate into other cell types than adult stem cells," says Songtao Shi, a pediatric dentist at the US National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Shi and his colleagues found the baby teeth cells can differentiate into tooth-forming cells called ondontoblasts, and also neural cells and fat cells.
Baby teeth, also called milk teeth or deciduous teeth, appear from the age of about six months and then fall out when children are between six and 13 years old.
Daughter cells