Stem cell discovery could ease ethical fears
EMBRYOS near the very beginning of development can yield stem cells for therapeutic applications without being destroyed in the process, research shows.
The discovery, reported at a fertility conference in Spain, raises the prospect of overcoming many of the ethical objections to working with human embryonic stem cells.
Stem cells from human embryos have the ability to develop into virtually any part of the body and could be used to treat a host of disorders, including currently incurable diseases such as type 1 diabetes and Parkinson's.
But to date, stem cells have been obtained from five-day-old embryos in a process which breaks the embryo apart.
The new development suggests stem cells can be removed at a much earlier stage when embryos are easier to manipulate without causing harm.
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Friday 17 February 2012
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