Correcting myself, Stelzner's group recently published a paper where dog's were the animal model for curing something like MID (problems with the mucosa), "Intestinal Stem Cell Organoid Transplantation Generates Neomucosa in Dogs." They had cured rats with malabsorption with this experimental design several years ago, and just published this dog study. The next step might be pigs, unless they jumped right into people, which they can now do, since Lgr5 was finally identified as the human intestinal stem cell (these other animal models have well established intestinal stem cell population).
The pig study was a triumph for group effort from Mass Gen and UCLA, "Tissue-Engineered Small Intestine and Stomach Form from Autologous Tissue in a Preclinical Large Animal Model." Basically, mashed up intestinal cells, schmeared this paste onto a bioscaffold they stuck into the pigs' belly cavity, and ta-da! Stomach and intestines formed, including muscle and nerve structure.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Bo and Sam!
This is a pic from our visit with the O'Connors in Chicago a few weeks ago. We had a great long weekend in Chicago with Tio Ren and Auntie Jennie, and the O'Connors! We spent Saturday morning at the Museum of Science and Industry. Most of it in the Great Train Exhibit. We had scheduled this weekend to go to Chicago in the hopes of crashing Digestive Disease Week at McCormick Place, but I wasn't registered, and our luck getting a $25 guest pass ran out with our only possible host, the Dutch grad student sent to present their MID genetics work. While I'm grateful that she was gracious enough to answer my email, my emotions cycled from bummed, to angry, to dismissive, back to mad. Oh well. We had a great time catching up, sharing tips and tricks for care, playing with toy trains, looking at toy trains, and impersonating trains. As a famous person once wrote, "trains=toddler crack."
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Is this thing on?
Birthday party #1 with MIL on birthday eve. Party #2 an impromptu gathering with our favorite family on the Big Day. And gearing up for party #3 with my family Saturday. Who knows, I may even drag my unwitting family to church, to top it all off. Muah hahaha!
Also: current updates in research include from the last 6 months
-identifying the true human intestinal stem cell (Lgr5)
-regenerated stomach and small intestine from a pigs own cells
-combo stem cell and gene therapy cured a HUMAN genetic disease in vitro
God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.
Thank you for answering my prayers, stoking the fire of both my hope and my faith, and giving me the strength to keep living and loving the miracles of this life. I continue to believe that a solution for Bo may be in sight during our lives. And that we will continue to celebrate each day we have together, regardless of our proximity to that monumental discovery.
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