Stem Cells: Origins are important

The Alternatives to human embryo stem cells haven't received the same amount of media attention as embryonic stem cells, but adult stem cells and stem cells from umbilical cord blood are gaining prominence within the scientific community. Research involving these kinds of stem cells isn't controversial since human life is never taken. This kind of research is already helping people.

So while the controversy over embryonic stem cells gets the front page of many newspapers and is highlighted on newscasts, breakthroughs involving adult stem cells are often tucked away in the corner or not reported at all.

Researchers working with adult stem cells have made many recent breakthroughs. As early as January 30, 1999, one article in the British Medical Journal stated that research on embryonic stem cells "may soon be eclipsed by the more readily available and less controversial adult stem cells." That day has come. Of the 15 U.S. biotech companies solely devoted to developing cures using stem cells, only two focus on embryos. Here's a list of just a few breakthroughs using adult stem cells:

•Researchers at Harvard Medical School killed cells responsible for the diabetes in mice, then the animals' adult stem cells took over and regenerated missing cells needed to produce insulin and eliminate the disease.

•Surgeons in Taiwan restored vision to patients with severe eye damage by using stem cells from the patients' own eyes. Their vision improved from 20/112 to 20/45, according to results published in the July 13, 2000, edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

•British scientists found that adult stem cells in bone marrow can turn into liver tissue, a first step toward developing new treatments for liver damage. Their work was reported in the journal Nature.

•Adult bone marrow stem cells have been shown to form tissue including bone, muscle, fat, liver, and neural cells.
It is also important to point out that adult stem cells taken from a person's own body don't face the risk of being rejected by the body, unlike embryonic stem cells.

Back to table of contents