The battle for the right to kill humans for their embryonic stem cells now looks more ludicrous than ever. Dr. Robb MacLellan, a researcher at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research has been able to induce pluripotent stem cells to differentiate into functional heart cells. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) are adult stem cells which are "reprogrammed" to behave like embryonic stem cells in being able to differentiate into many types of cells. In this case, mouse skin cells were made to become cardiovascular cells, having "induced differentiation into functional cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells, and hematopoietic cells.
"The study, which brought together stem cell and cardiology researchers at UCLA, appears online May 1, 2008 in the journal Stem Cells."
It is likely that this type of "embryonic-like' stem cell, which derives from an adult, will not lead to all the problems of embryonic stem cells which included cancer. This is possibly the major breakthrough needed for adult stem cells to accomplish everything that embryonic stem cells could not. Adult stem cell researchers deserve congratulations for not believing the hype and ruckus of the embryonic stem cell circus. And the latter should be ashamed for having led the public and media down the path of ethicizing the murder of humans for nonexistant "cures". However, I doubt that there will be any remorseful gnashing of teeth from that quarter; they still need to protect the woman's right to kill her progeny.
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