Adam Blakeney

Last month, Bryan and I traveled to Birmingham to see our son, Adam, receive two special awards at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. We were very proud to witness him accepting the Biomedical Engineering Student of the Year Award and the Dean’s Award for being the most outstanding student in the School of Engineering.  Recently, he was part of an adult stem cell research team that published “A hybrid biomimetic scaffold composed of electrospun polycaprolactone nanofibers and self-assembled peptide amphiphile nanofibers” in  Biofabrication. Yikes! I have no idea what that means.

Tonight, we learned of one more accomplishment. Adam has been named ASPE (Alabama Society of Professional Engineers) Engineering Student of the Year.  He was selected from among the top students studying various aspects of engineering at colleges and universities throughout the state of Alabama.  Adam chose to study biomedical engineering, in part, because of our family experience with Nathan’s health crisis.  Having a little brother with heart issues seems to have inspired Adam to work hard and think creatively.  Maybe he will have a hand in finding better treatments for congenital heart defects…might as well dream big.

We are excited for Adam but also a little incredulous. This is the same young man who ran around my living room in Osh Kosh B’gosh singing the theme song to “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (…Heroes on the half shell – Turtle Power!).  This is the little kid who could recite verbatim Star Trek’s introductory sequence:  “Space… the final frontier.  These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. It’s five year mission:  to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before…”

[Update:  The University of Alabama at Birmingham has posted an article about Adam's accomplishments on their website.  See http://main.uab.edu/Sites/MediaRelations/articles/67820/.]

Click here to view the embedded video.

Josh Brahm is the creator of “Science Matters,” a series of videos presenting arguments for using Adult Stem Cell Research and iPS technology instead of Embryonic Stem Cell Research.  Visit his website at www.prolifepodcast.net.  Also read this excellent article by Josh:  “9 Things the Media Messed Up About the Obama Stem Cell Story.”

I’m a big fan of stem cell research.  My son, Adam, is a member of a SCR team at UAB’s BioMatrix Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Center.  I want these guys to succeed.

But I agree with Dr. Oz.  Harvesting an individual’s own stem cells to treat diseases and conditions reduces the risk of rejection and does not have the potential for introducing cancer into the body as does the use of embryonic stem cells.  There’s no need to push the ethical boundaries.

So there you have it…my 2¢.

Adam Blakeney culturing stem cells in the Shelby Biomedical Research Building at UAB

My oldest son (Nathan’s big bro’), Adam, has almost completed his undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  His team has completed a project that has recently been published in Biofabrication, a journal of state-of-the-art research and development.  Much of what those guys do is waaay over my head, but I asked Adam about his work and the kind of innovations we may see in the future.

“I design materials using plastics and protein building blocks, which contain and control the growth of human stem cells derived from adults,” he tells me.  He experiments with the creation of “cell scaffoldings,” attempting to “mimic the body’s natural mesh of collagen and elastin as closely as possible.”  The goal is to fashion the right combination of materials and artistry so that living replicas of human parts (blood vessels and heart valves, e.g.) can become functional replacements for diseased or deformed parts.

How might this technology benefit children with congenital heart defects? “Deformed heart valves in infants usually mean  multiple surgeries over the course of the child’s life as the heart outgrows the implanted artificial valve,” Adam says.  Stem cell researchers hope to eliminate the need for extra surgeries.  “By creating a shell of a valve out of plastics or natural materials, and infusing them with stem cells, the hope is for the cells to overtake the originally artificial valve,” he explains.  “As the heart grows, the old valve would break down and replace itself using the cell’s naturally produced collagen and elastin.”

Adam and Nathan (li'l Adam!)

Adam says it’s difficult to tell how close scientists are to turning research into reality.  “‘How close changes monthly, but I could see applications using stem cells becoming widespread in ten to fifteen years.”  He says there are still challenges to overcome, one of the biggest being “controlling what happens to a stem cell when it is implanted.”  Addressing this problem will involve “a combination of localized drugs, genetic engineering, and the structure which the cells are placed on, each of which have their own set of problems.”

Despite the challenges, Adam sees a positive future for this research.  “Repairing damaged heart muscle and missing vasculature are strong candidates for the first widespread applications of tissue engineering.”

It is no longer unrealistic to envision growing new tissue from our own stem cells to repair damaged organs.  Science fantasy is on the verge of becoming science fact.