Foetal cells 'to treat strokes'

[deadparrot]

A UK company is applying for permission to transplant stem cells made from human foetal tissue into the brains of stroke patients.

Guildford-based ReNeuron has told the BBC it has convincing lab evidence that the cells could potentially regenerate brain cells damaged by a stroke.

It has applied to the US Food and Drug Administration to carry out human trials on 12 stroke patients.

However, opponents have said it is a "sick proposal".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6207236.stm

[savemefromdumbya]

1. it is fetal not foetal

however, one might aswell use the fetal material as it usually gets 'thrown away'

[Deep13]

3. Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves.

We will never, ever use American spelling.

[savemefromdumbya]

7. it is not the american spelling it is latin meaning related to offspring

[iverglas]

15. the *Latin* spelling is

foetus. And my Concise Oxford still gives the spelling as "foetus (US fetus)".

There are Brits who object to traditional British spellings. I recall Morse getting a bit worked up about the "-ise" spelling of words that are spelled "-ize" in the US, and telling viewers that the former was incorrect in the UK. Taking that to extremes, my brother was once harangued by a customer who insisted on US spellings because he had not said "advertize" in a text.

In fact some such spellings are not so traditional at all; I spell it "labour" in Canada, but I see many handwritten entries in early 19th century English censuses identifying people as "laborer", e.g.

The Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (haha, eh? gynaecology) appears to use both versions.

[savemefromdumbya]

16. 4th declension noun - fetus Latin (here's one for the road)

http://expat-at-large.com/Fetus_foetus.htm

But the venerable Oxford people assert that the “oe” diagraph was inserted in the sixteenth century either a) as a very common printer’s error or, b) in a misguided attempt by medieval academics to “correct” the Latin language, which had they felt become corrupted over the centuries.

:hi:

[iverglas]

17. that was fun ;)

(I knew the fourth-declension part, of course: the plural of fetus ain't feti!)

And I learned a very useful thing:

(Caveat emptor of MS Word 97. Apparently, different fonts can select their own spell-checker!)

That explains a lot. I work in Word, generating a few thousand words most days, and I have my spellchecker (in "Canadian English") well trained both to accept the US spelling of many words, which is also the Canadian spelling -- we're a hybrid, where Word thinks we're pure Brit much of the time -- and to fix dozens of my own typos. But every once in a while it messes me around, like not fixing my typo or not changing "quebecois" to "québécois" automatically so I don't have to bother with the extra keystrokes -- and that explains it.

I must learn to take my trusty Oxford with a grain of salt, it seems. ;)

[Betsy Ross]

4. Foetal, British spelling? n/t

typo edit

[savemefromdumbya]

6. no it's not

[deadparrot]

8. Yes, it is.

"In general, the medical community only permits the spelling fetus (preferred by the British Medical Journal, for example), but the spelling foetus persists in general use, especially in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, etc."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetus#Etymology_and_spelling_variations

[savemefromdumbya]

10. we used the word fetus

being in veterinary science in Britain for years we used the word fetus. we were told off by our professor for spelling it foetus.

[NashVegas]

18. Scraping Fetus Off the Wheel

Just wouldn't have had the same punch.

[Lance_Boyle]

9. fetal tissue

(and yes, "foetal" is an acceptable-if-well-on-the-way-to-archaic spelling) does not typically get thrown away. Fetal tissue typically develops into a baby. Placenta typically gets thrown away.

[savemefromdumbya]

12. yes typically

I was thinking about embryos

[iverglas]

14. fascinating

Fetal tissue typically develops into a baby.

Did you, for some strange reason, imagine that the proposal relates to fetal tissue that has not already been removed from a woman's uterus?

Fetal tissue that has been removed from a woman's uterus typically sure doesn't develop into a baby.

If the proposal doesn't relate to fetal tissue that has not already been removed from a woman's uterus, why would you be talking about fetal tissue that has not been removed from a woman's uterus?

Just curious.


equivocate
v. intr. use ambiguity to conceal the truth

[Deep13]

2. opponents have said it is a "sick proposal".

No, it's a proposal to repair sickness. Don't these folks know anything?

[uppityperson]

5. good, k&r

[stillcool]

11. I've often wondered if the real...

opposition to stem-cell research is the pharmaceutical industry.

[DearAbby]

13. Wonderful news.

How debilitating stokes can be, this is wonderful news. -potentially regenerate brain cells damaged by a stroke- It's like a miracle.