Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

Newser - Current News - Breaking Stories


Stem Cells Made Without Destroying Embryos

Posted Jan 10, 08 5:43 PM CST in Science & Health 

(Newser) – Scientists have created new embryonic stem cells while keeping the donor embryos intact, Wired reports, a breakthrough that could finally permit long-delayed research into curing cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s. Researchers plucked single cells from 2-day-old human embryos, coaxed them to become ESCs, and developed them into heart tissue, neurons, cartilage, and blood cells.

The process, called blastomere biopsy, promises to be superior to November’s skin-cell watershed, which created near-equivalents of ESCs from skin cells—though they aren't as powerful and can turn cancerous. The development could finally overcome ethical objections that led President Bush to ban federal funding of ESCs in 2001, but its 80% survival rate for donor embryos may still rankle pro-life advocates.
Source: Wired

0 comments | Print E-mail | Digg Seed this on Newsvine Add this link to Del.icio.us StumbleUpon
Robert Lanza of the Wake Forest University Institute for Regenerative Medicine   (Getty Images)
  (Getty Images)
Robert Lanza of the Wake Forest University Institute for Regenerative Medicine   (Getty Images)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
Our editors also recommend:

Related Threads

(1 of 3)

Tags

cancer Alzheimer's stem cells embryo



Loading...

Today's Most Popular

[ Stories ]

Threads

Loading...

Other Science & Health Stories