Seriously, why have the libdems pinned their hopes on ESC's? While they have shown the ability to cure disease, a heavy baggage, in the form of pervasive and constant tumors, comes with said cures.
Meanwhile, placental, and adult, stem cells show promise, sans tumors. Case in point
Adult stem cells increase insulin production in mice with type 2 diabetes, demonstrating the potential of adult stem cells to address diabetes, say Tulane University gene therapy researchers. The article is published online this week in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science.
Adult stem cells are grown from donated human bone marrow. They have the potential to be used therapeutically because of their ability to repair many tissues in the body, such as insulin secreting cells in the pancreas.
Tulane researchers Darwin Prockop and colleagues at the Center for Gene Therapy injected human adult stem cells into mice with elevated blood sugar levels. Over time, the blood sugar levels in the mice which received the stem cells decreased. Further tests showed that the stem cells had gone to each mouse¹s pancreas, repairing damaged insulin-producing tissues.
There was some evidence showing that the stem cells were also repairing damaged kidney tissues, says Prockop. The human stem cells were effective in part because the mice were a special strain with a defective immune system, Prockop says, but use of human cells in the experiments provides a direct test for the cells that could be used in patients with diabetes.
No mention of tumors. Nor will you find other stories or research about ASC's that mention tumors.
The libdems have pinned their hopes on ESC's due to two factors. First, because the Right, and particularly those who are religious, are against the use of ESC's because of how they are harvested.
Second, and more important, the legal use of ESC's requires that abortion on demand stays legal and available. Abortion, excuse me, choice, is the numero uno issue for Democrats. No matter what negative consequences come from abortion choice (sic), the Left must keep it available. Six months? No problem. Taking someone else's minor girl across state lines without telling the parent(s)? No big deal.
Those on the Left have convinced themselves that ESC's are the way to go, all evidence to the contrary. And have hissy fits over no federal funding. I suggest that those on the Left can only take cures derived from ESC's, while those on the Left take cures from adult and placental stem cells.
We'll see who is standing last.
