Science and Health

Rabid dogs roam holiday hotspot, kill at least 78

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-08-02 08:58

Adult stem cells are being studied in people who suffer from multiple sclerosis, heart attacks and diabetes. Some early results suggest stem cells can help some patients avoid leg amputation. Recently,ssue.

A couple of months earlier, the Vatican announced it was funding adult stem cell research on the intestine at the University of Maryland.

These developments only hint at what is being explored in experiments across the United States.

Much of the work is early, and even as experts speak of its promise, they ask for patience and warn against clinics that aggressively market stem-cell cures without scientific backing.

Some of the new approaches, like the long-proven treatments, are based on the idea that stem cells can become other cells. Einhorn said the ankle-repair technique, for example, apparently works because of cells that turn into bone and blood vessels. But for other uses, scientists say they are harnessing the apparent abilities of adult stem cells to stimulate tissue repair, or to suppress the immune system.

"That gives adult stem cells really a very interesting and potent quality that embryonic stem cells do not have," says Rocky Tuan of the University of Pittsburgh.

One major focus oman of Princeton University argues in his New York Times columns that the United States may already have fallen into the early stages of a long, deep depression like Japan's "lost decade," because he says President Barack Obama and the Congress failed to provide enough stimulus spending.

University of Maryland business economist Peter Morici says, "Signs abound that the economic recovery is faltering." Washington-area financial adviser Randy Beeman tells listeners to his weekly radio show that chances of a double-dip recession are now about 75 percent.

Yale University economist Robert Shiller, a leading expert on the housing market and author of "Irrational Exuberance," a 2000 book that foretold the coming crash of the tech stock bubble, sees more than a 50-50 chance of a double dip. "I actually expect it," he says.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told CNBC a double-dip recession cannot be ruled  home because "consumer behavior is driven by outlook, not only people's present situation but their future concerns," said Pew associate director Michael Dimock.

"People worry that their situation may get still worse before it gets better," Dimock said.