Controversial research to retrieve neural stem cells from human fetuses may
become a thing of the past. Research data presented to the Society for
Neuroscience in New Orleans this past weekend claims that harvesting stem cells,
which promise treatments for currently incurable brain ailments and spinal cord
injuries, may be far easier to obtain from adult tissues than previously
thought.
The study by researchers at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New
Jersey shows that stem cells isolated from adult bone marrow can convert into
neurons quickly and can be grown in almost unlimited supply.
This is good news to pro-life groups, which have fought to keep aborted
fetuses from becoming the primary source for neural stem
cells.
