Man behind stem cell war may be peacemaker

November 23, 2007

The U.S. researcher who set off controversy by taking stem cells from human embryos may have quieted critics by creating a stem cell without using an embryo.

James Thomson sparked a heated national debate in 1998 when his research destroyed human embryos. On Tuesday, his lab at the University of Wisconsin was one of two worldwide reporting a way of turning human skin sells in what seems to be embryonic stem sells without using an embryo, The New York Times reported Friday.

Thomson said he had ethical concerns about embryonic research, even though he aid he knew it would offer insight into human development and held the potential for new treatments.

"If human embryonic stem cell research does not make you at least a little bit uncomfortable, you have not thought about it enough," he told the Times.

He said he never anticipated the political and ethical divisiveness his research created.

The new technique, which involves adding four genes to ordinary adult skin cells, will shorten the time before all the ruckus raised by stem cell research is memory.

"A decade from now, this will be just a funny historical footnote," Thomson said in the interview.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

Filter


Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

CWFlink
Nov 24, 2007

Rank: not rated yet
This is a great breakthrough. It is a shame so much venom has been spewed for political reasons. I am still waiting, however, for the animal studies that prove the great value of stem cells. I am still stunned we've spent so much time researching HUMAN stem cells before providing the sound underpinnings required for safe research by fist proving the potential in animal studies. It is as if we're back in the dark ages, "bleeding" patients to get the evil spirits to leave their body! Come on, men and ladies! Where has "do no harm" gone? We are, at a minimum, harming patients by promising solutions that still have not been demonstrated in mice let alone primates.... and in any case, are many years away. We've allowed emotions and politics to drive this research, to the shame of us all.
Rank 4 /5 (1 vote)
Tags

Related Stories
more news
Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

A mitosis mystery solved: How chromosomes align perfectly in a dividing cell

Although the process of mitotic cell division has been studied intensely for more than 50 years, Whitehead Institute researchers have only now solved the mystery of how cells correctly align their chromosomes during symmetric ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created 5 hours ago | popularity 4.5 / 5 (8) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers find extensive RNA editing in human transcriptome

In a new study published online in Nature Biotechnology, researchers from BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, reported the evidence of extensive RNA editing in a human cell line by analysis of RNA-seq data, demons ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created 5 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

The proteins ensuring genome protection

Researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, have discovered the crucial role of two proteins in developing a cell 'anti-enzyme shield'. This protection system, which operates at the level of molecular ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created 5 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Entire genome of extinct human decoded from fossil

(PhysOrg.com) -- In 2010, Svante Pääbo and his colleagues presented a draft version of the genome from a small fragment of a human finger bone discovered in Denisova Cave in southern Siberia. The ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 07, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (59) | comments 48 | with audio podcast

Why are there so few fish in the Earth's oceans?

(PhysOrg.com) -- A Stony Brook University researcher has found that, contrary to popular belief, there are not plenty of fish in the sea.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Feb 08, 2012 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (18) | comments 27 | with audio podcast


Declining health-care productivity in England: Who says so?

Reports that the National Health Service in England has been declining in productivity in the last decade appear to have been accepted as fact. However, a Viewpoint published Online First by The Lancet disputes this. The Vi ...

Scientists discover molecular secrets of 2,000-year-old Chinese herbal remedy

For roughly two thousand years, Chinese herbalists have treated Malaria using a root extract, commonly known as Chang Shan, from a type of hydrangea that grows in Tibet and Nepal. More recent studies suggest that halofuginone, ...

New method to examine batteries -- MRI from the inside

There is an ever-increasing need for advanced batteries for portable electronics, such as phones, cameras, and music players, but also to power electric vehicles and to facilitate the distribution and storage of energy derived ...

Overeating may double risk of memory loss

New research suggests that consuming between 2,100 and 6,000 calories per day may double the risk of memory loss, or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), among people age 70 and older. The study was released today and will be ...

Lab study raises questions over nano-particle impact

Tests involving chickens have raised questions about the impact on health from engineered nano-particles, the ultra-fine grains commonly used in drugs and processed foods, scientists said on Sunday.

Starve a virus, feed a cure? Findings show how some cells protect themselves against HIV

A protein that protects some of our immune cells from the most common and virulent form of HIV works by starving the virus of the molecular building blocks that it needs to replicate, according to research published online ...