News Stem Cell Research

rynnor

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This is an interesting story:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15740133

Am I being hopelessly cynical thinking that if this stuff really worked it wouldnt have been dropped?

I know theres been a ton of hype but I havent seen a decent idea yet of how you get the stem cells to do what you want after you implant them rather than just growing chaotically/occasionally causing cancers?

Is it another dead end or a realistic chance of some decent medicines?

Edit: heres a horror story on the use of embryo stem cells.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=embryonic-stem-cells-cause-cancer-i-2009-02-19
 

dysfunction

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it's relatively new technology /science so there are bound to be horror stories.
I think this is a chance of a breakthrough into curing some horrible illnesses and diseases...
 

rynnor

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it's relatively new technology /science so there are bound to be horror stories.
I think this is a chance of a breakthrough into curing some horrible illnesses and diseases...

I think I should have made it clearer on the distinction - the company thats stopping was in embryonic stem cell research as was the horror story. The problem with embryonic stem cells is that they are designed to massively replicate and build a body.

There's still promise in the adult stem cell research although I tend to think real control of them is currently beyond us but they are a lot less likely to go berserk.
 

dysfunction

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Yes I think there are ethical concerns with embryonic stem cell research.
Adult stem cell research, however, is the better option and it's only a matter of time before they can start making real progress with this
 

Raven

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There are only ethical concerns if you believe in a god. An embryo simply doesn't have enough brain cells to have a conciousness, let alone a "soul" I see no problem with using them for medical research, the same as any other group of cells in the body.

Whether there is any benefit to using embryonic stem cells, who knows. I would imagine they are more useful in growing body parts due to their growth rates. New hearts, kidneys, livers etc etc.
 

old.Tohtori

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I'll let the scientists decide what is worth studying and what is not. Even if they are silly at times :X3:

About ethical concerns? Well, same as with pissing on a grave, ain't it all an ethical problem only if subject X thinks Y?
 

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