Don't Give up on Embryonic Stem Cells
Since the recent announcement of successful reprogramming, editorials carrying statements such as “[r]arely has a president - so vilified for a moral stance - been so thoroughly vindicated” have been springing up across the United States. Now the fightback seems to be gearing up.
Key to their argument is the fact that ‘reprogrammed’ cells – where instead of obtaining stem cells from an embryo ‘induced pluripotent stem cells’ are created from adult human skin – are not yet safe for clinical use.
“For doing basic research on human cells, IPS as a method has won - it's huge. But for the ultimate goal of getting cells into a patient, it's a lot less clear. These cells may never be useful for direct therapy,” says George Q. Daley, a stem cell researcher at Children’s Hospital Boston, in the Boston Globe.
Douglas A. Melton, codirector of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, is even firmer, saying: “It will never be approved [by the FDA] to put these cells in a patient.”
Cross posted from Daniel Cressey on The Great BeyondSee also our Q&A on the topic with the head of the NIH Stem Cell Task Force and what scientists had to say