Saturday, November 17, 2007

Adult Stem-Cell Update

When California taxpayers were suckered into shelling out $3billion+ for Proposition 71, they were told it would place the state at the forefront of the "Stem-Cell Revolution." Well, apparently not.

This week Professor Ian Wilmut, who created Dolly the cloned sheep, shocked the scientific world by his decision to abandon cloning, and instead concentrate on new techniques where stem-cells are created from human skin cells. It should be noted that Professor Wilmot has no ethical objection to using embryonic stem-cells--he just thinks there are better ways to reach the goal.

The Guardian reports: "The news will come as a blow to scientists who believe that the use of embryos to create stem cells is the best way to develop treatments for serious medical conditions such as stroke, heart disease and Parkinson's disease.Unlike current stem cell research, the new method does not require the use of human embryos, which has caused controversy in the past decade. Full details of the new technique have not yet been unveiled but Wilmut described it as "extremely exciting and astonishing."

This is a big story, and has also been covered by the Telegraph, The Associated Press, and the BBC, among others.

Update: And the satirical site Scrappleface has fun with the story: Dolly Dad Dumps Cloning, Doesn't Discourage Democrats

“There’s no reason to give up on the search for miracles,” said Rep. Pelosi, “Now is the time to redouble our efforts to increase the value of human life by spurring a vibrant after-market for embryonic byproducts. America should lead the world in this growth industry.”

h/t "Regular Guy"

1 comment:

Sir Galen of Bristol said...

Thanks for the link, Father!

Nice blog you have here!