The above article describes a woman previously diagnosed with severe tuberculosis who underwent a trachea (windpipe) transplant. A trachea was taken from a cadaver, and the live cells in the cadaver's trachea were allowed to die. The recipient's bone marrow cells, which had previously been harvested, were then cultured into the the cadaver's trachea (which is made primarily of cartilage). The trachea was then transplanted into the recipient patient, and 10 days postoperatively, she went home.
The patient could have received the cadaveric trachea, but she would have then risked transplant rejection, and had to have been on chronic immunosupression therapy. By altering the donor trachea with her own stem cells, her body would not recognize the transplanted trachea as foreign, but rather as a part of her own body. Other potential side effects and complications remain to be seen, as this was the first surgery of its kind. Truly amazing indeed.
They note several times in the article that stem cell research is controversial. What they fail to emphasize is that ADULT stem cells were used, the patient's own bone marrow. As a Catholic, I see no more controversy with bone marrow stem cell donation as I do with donating blood (incidentally I just donated a unit of blood at a blood drive run by and at my church not too long ago). This IS NOT embryonic stem cell research.
The success of Ms. Costillo's treatment remains to be seen. However, the path taken has paved the way for many, ethically acceptable possibilities for medical research. Hybrids between adult stem cells, donor organs, and artificially engineered organs puts forth a myriad of possible combinations wherein patients afflicted by chronic diseases can have hope for a better quality and quantity of life.
