A report last week in The Denver Post reported how a 7-year old boy in Germany is being treated successfully for a disease known as junctional epidermolysis bullosa (JEB) with modified stem cells.
JEB is a rare condition that that makes skin so fragile that minor friction such as rubbing causes the skin to blister or come apart. It was reported last week that scientists had genetically modified stem cells to grow skin, which has been grafted over a large part of the child’s body. The boy had “complete epidural loss” on approximately 60% of his body, was receiving morphine for pain relief, and was extremely susceptible to infection.
The success of this particular treatment has raised hope that such stem-cell based techniques could be used to treat burns victims.
Scott Wolf, President and Director of Research for Grace Century, who’s partner project Provia has developed a biobanking system for dental stem cells call “Store-A-Tooth”, said “This is yet another exciting development in the therapeutic use of stem cells, and is all more the notable as this particular case helped save the life of a young boy, and after all healthcare innovation is all about saving lives”.
