Stem cell initiative is set to aid wounded By Lisa Burgess, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, April 19, 2008
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Pentagon is launching a multimillion dollar initiative to regrow skin, muscles, ears, noses and even new limbs for wounded servicemembers, using their own stem cells.
The Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine, or AFIRM, is a five-year, Army-led cooperative program using cutting-edge stem cell research to treat badly wounded servicemembers.
“You often hear people talking about a conflict having a ‘signature wound,’” Lt. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, the Army’s surgeon general, told reporters at a Thursday news conference announcing the new institute. “Well, the signature weapon of this war is blast.”
Some of AFIRM’s earliest work will involve growing new skin and muscle tissue for troops who have been burned in explosions, as well as new noses and ears, Schoomaker said.
With 82 percent of all combat-wounded members having injuries to the extremities and 30 percent having facial wounds, “we’ve been wrestling with how to treat the many problems,” Schoomaker said.
Rest of article at:
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=54164