Thursday, January 06, 2005

Stem Cell Update: Adult Stem Cells Still Doing Most of the Real Work

The world of stem cell research continues to spin, and the successes of non-embryonic stem cells continue to grow.

In this news rats were effectively treated for heart attacks with umbilical cord cells.

In this interesting twist of information, women were successfully treated for incontinence with cells from their own arms.

Research also continues to progress with embryonic stem cells. Monkeys are being treated for Parkinson’s Disease.

And just in case you did not know that this has already happened, South Korean scientists have cloned human embryos for the sole purpose of extracting stem cells.

As I have blogged before, I believe the ethical considerations weigh so heavily against embryonic stem cell research, that even if they were the only medically viable option, they should not be used. But in reality, adult stem cells are out-performing their fetal cousins.

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