New Discovery May End Stem Cell Debate

According to news reports, recent research conducted by scientists at the University of Louisville has yielded the discovery of a new line of adult stem cells. In research conducted on mice, the scientists have found lines of adult stem cells that can change into brain and heart muscle cells, among others. As Steven Ertelt of LifeNews.com writes,

The discovery could greatly expand the dozens of therapies and treatments already available from adult stem cells and the researcher say it could end the entire stem cell research debate.

"We have found a counterpart for embryonic stem cells in adult bone marrow. This could negate the ethical concerns," said Mariusz Ratajczak, leader of the research team and director of the stem cell biology program at the university's James Graham Brown Cancer Center.

For a direct link to the article in its entirety, click here.

This report comes on the heels of an admission by a South Korean researcher that he and his peers--all of whom had been working on an embryonic stem cell research project--had conjured most of the information contained in their recent publication in a leading medical journal.

Roh Sung-il, a co-author of the paper, told South Korean media networks that "Professor Hwang admitted to fabrication" and added that he, Hwang and another member of the research team have asked Science to withdraw the paper.

Click here to read the whole article, also by Steven Ertelt of LifeNews.com.

So far, embryonic stem cell research has shown little-to-no promise, while adult stem cell and umbilical cord blood research is continually moving science forward. Those who favor continuing on with embryonic stem cell research are apparently becoming desperate to show some sort of substantive progress in their field. Now that they've resorted to fabricating papers for publication, it's well beyond time to pull the plug on the clone-and-kill research.