Yesterday's Washington Times posted an article about a breakthrough in stem cell research. The breakthrough occurred at Children's Hospital in Boston where a team of scientists led by Derrick J. Rossi published a paper Thursday showing that they can quickly and efficiently transform skin cells into cells with all the properties of embryonic stem cells.
I do not claim to be a scientist. However, this seems to me to be a valid way to avoid creating and destroying embryonic stem cells in the name of research.
The article states:
""I think this is a stunning development," said Dr. David Stevens, CEO of the Christian Medical and Dental Association. "People have been saying we have to use embryonic stem cells because we don't have an alternative. Well, now we have an alternative."
"The research comes at a critical juncture in the embryonic stem cell debate. A federal judge put a hold on such research in August after ruling that the Obama administration had likely violated the law by using federal funding for research that involved the destruction of human embryos."
I would like to mention at this point that the ban has never been on embryonic stem cell research--the ban has always been on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. That is an important distinction--if embryonic stem cell research were all that successful, private funding would be readily available. It will be interesting to see how the scientific community responds to this research.
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