Stem Cells

[Woodbutcher]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7914976.stm
Interesting!

[MedGen]

Yes, but skeptical based on the problems they had in the past with them not being clinically useful. They essentially all became cancerous, sort of defied the point in using them therapeutically. I'd like to see their published work before making any judgements as to their validity and use.

[Woodbutcher]

This time they used genes to obtain stem cells instead of viruses as was done previously. AND the genes were extracted afterwards. At least it's a promising advance.

[MedGen]

This time they used genes to obtain stem cells instead of viruses as was done previously. AND the genes were extracted afterwards. At least it's a promising advance.

By all means its a fantastic advance, but just be a little wary with the BBC's reporting of science, it's taken a nose-dive in the last few years. Too much focus on sensationalising every new discovery to come out of the lab.

[The Curious Squid]

Is it just me or is the information in that report rather old?

I'm sure I read about this in New Scientist months ago?

There have been a few occasions recently where sombody has told me some "news" from the local papers that I read through other means months in advance. Can the general public really be that far behind the science magazines?

Not to stray off topic though, does anybody know what Obama's views on Stem Cells from embryos is? I know he's still religious but I'm hoping he's more of a rational thinker than Bush was.

It'd be good to see some genuine advancements in this area when the full power of American resources can be put to use.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7929690.stm

Another piece of Bush wankery removed! I like this president.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

... and the vatican disapproves of the move! Even better!

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Obama to lift restrictions on embryonic stem cell research
By Lisa Stein in 60-Second Science Blog

President Obama is reportedly set to sign an executive order Monday lifting the Bush administration ban on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. The move is being heralded by scientists, who charge the limit has hobbled research efforts that hold the promise of new treatments and even cures for spinal injuries and debilitating disease such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and cancer.

CNN reports that the White House is planning an 11 a.m. ceremony to repeal President George W. Bush's executive order limiting federal funding to research on 21 cell lines extracted from embryos prior to Aug. 9, 2001. Researchers say that most – if not all – of those lines have been compromised or contaminated and are no longer suitable for research.

Scientists have protested the ban since it took effect; even Bush's own director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Elias Zerhouni, split with the former president on the issue, charging that the ban hampered efforts to find new medical breakthroughs.

"It is very clear from my point of view that the current cell lines will not be sufficient to do the research we want to do," the former NIH chief testified during a 2007 Senate hearing. "It is clear today that American science will be better served and the nation would be better served if we let our scientists have access to more cell lines."

Opponents of embryonic stem cell research claim that it's immoral and unethical to spend taxpayer dollars for research that involves destroying embryos. Critics also argue that adult stem cells negate the need for embryonic stem cell research. But scientists believe that embryonic stem cells offer the most hope for treating a host of ills and injuries, because, unlike adult stem cells, they can morph into almost any type of tissue.

"They do not hold scientific water," Zerhouni testified about claims that adult stem cells are sufficient. "It is in the best interest of our scientists, our science, our country that we find ways—that the nation finds a way—to allow the science to go full speed on both adult and embryonic stem cell research."

Bush vetoed legislation that would have lifted the lid and freed federal funds for expanded research on stem cells extracted from frozen embryos set to be discarded by in vitro fertility clinics with the consent of donors. The measures established ethical and reporting guidelines governing the research, which the NIH has been drafting in anticipation of the limit lift, according to the Washington Post. In addition to Obama's expected move, look for the Democratic-controlled Congress to pass legislation designed to block future presidents from imposing such a restriction again.

[Woodbutcher]

[JimC]

And the tide of irrational woo is moved back a cm or two...

[Animavore]

This reminds me of something Dawkins said about progress moving like a saw or something.

I could look it up, TGD is just across the room but... Nah. To lazy. I'm wrapped up like a cocooned caterpillar, cosy and cradled.

[charlou]

This reminds me of something Dawkins said about progress moving like a saw or something.

I could look it up, TGD is just across the room but... Nah. To lazy. I'm wrapped up like a cocooned caterpillar, cosy and cradled.

Sounds cosy.

Here's the TGD excerpt (pp270/271):

Some of us lag behind the advancing wave of the changing moral Zeitgeist and some of us are slightly ahead. But most of us in the {271} twenty-first century are bunched together and way ahead of our counterparts in the Middle Ages, or in the time of Abraham, or even as recently as the 1920s. The whole wave keeps moving, and even the vanguard of an earlier century (T. H. Huxley is the obvious example) would find itself way behind the laggers of a later century. Of course, the advance is not a smooth incline but a meandering sawtooth. There are local and temporary setbacks such as the United States is suffering from its government in the early 2000s. But over the longer timescale, the progressive trend is unmistakeable and it will continue.

[Animavore]

How Christians can call a small group of cells a human is beyond me.
Blastacysts are the type of things that if you accidentally spilled some over your forearm you'd be wiping it on your jeans like 'yeeaoww'

[Dasein]

“It is about ensuring that scientific data is never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda — and that we make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology,” Obama said.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19785.html

http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/94017/detail/

[The Curious Squid]

So is he reversing the ban on stem cell research?