Obama to lift ban on stem cell research

[deminks]

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/technology/5322713/obama-to-lift-ban-on-stem-cell-research-soon-aide/

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will soon issue an executive order lifting an eight-year ban embryonic stem cell research imposed by his predecessor, President George W. Bush , a senior adviser said on Sunday.

"We're going to be doing something on that soon, I think. The president is considering that right now," Obama adviser David Axelrod said on "Fox News Sunday."

In 2001, Bush limited federal funding for stem cell research only to human embryonic stem cell lines that already existed. It was a gesture to his conservative Christian supporters who regard embryonic stem cell research as destroying potential life, because the cells must be extracted from human embryos.

Embryonic stem cells are the most basic human cells which can develop into any type of cell in the body.

Scientists believe the research could eventually produce cures for a variety of diseases, including Parkinson's disease, diabetes, heart disease and spinal cord injuries.

(end snip)

Nice to start the morning with more hope.

[NeedleCast]

1. it's like we've been given permission to enter the 21st century

Awesome.

[babylonsister]

2. Rec'd. I like it! We need this! nt

[Horse with no Name]

3. So Axelrod likes poking his finger in hornets nests?

I find it quite amusing that he announced that Obama will be "killing babies" on Faux Snooze.:rofl:

And lest someone miss the sarcasm, I am glad to see this.
People shouldn't suffer when the technology is there.

[tsuki]

4. Science. Wow. nt

[MrPerson]

5. No need to agonize. Just allow all research.

The Fundies can blow me.

[sfbabe3]

6. stem cell research

This is great news, and I hope it happens. Dreadful that the suppression of research even happened.

[deminks]

8. Welcome to DU, sfbabe3!

and I agree, we should never have had a ban in the first place.

[Igel]

14. It's been allowed for the last 8 years.

Just not all has been funded. The headline got it wrong; they explained it, but the distinction between "only funding some HESC research" and "allowing all HESC research" is apparently lost on many people.

I knew a post-doc working with HESCs, and it didn't involve any of the cell-lines that could get federal funding. Private monies. Some of the restrictions made it difficult. Not impossible, and certainly not banned.

[lunatica]

7. This is life-alteringly significant!

Medicine is about to take a quantum step forward and change humanity's path once more. Even to creating jobs specifically in scientific research and the drug industry.


Replacing diseased cells with healthy cells, a process called cell therapy, is a promising use of stem cells in the treatment of disease; this is similar to organ transplantation only the treatment consists of transplanting cells instead of organs. Currently, researchers are investigating the use of adult, fetal and embryonic stem cells as a resource for various, specialized cell types, such as nerve cells, muscle cells, blood cells and skin cells that can be used to treat various diseases.

In theory, any condition in which there is tissue degeneration can be a potential candidate for stem cell therapies, including Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease, Type 1 diabetes, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, muscular dystrophies and liver diseases.
In addition, retinal regeneration with stem cells isolated from the eyes can lead to a possible cure for damaged or diseased eyes and may one day help reverse blindness. Bone marrow transplantation (transfers blood stem cells) is a well-established treatment for blood cancers and other blood disorders.


What is regenerative medicine?
The goal of regenerative medicine is to repair organs or tissues that are damaged by disease, aging or trauma, such that function is restored, or at least improved.

The term regenerative medicine is often used nowadays to describe medical treatments and research that use stem cells (either adult or embryonic) to restore the function of organs or tissues. This can be achieved in different ways; first, by administering stem cells, or specific cells that are derived from stem cells in the laboratory; or second, by administering drugs that coax stem cells that are already present in tissues to more efficiently repair the involved tissue.

http://www.isscr.org/science/faq.htm

**********

[progressoid]

9. K/R!

Maybe we can catch up with the rest of the world now.

[firedupdem]

10. Excellent! A President that values science! K & R! n/t

[stuntcat]

11. bring on the SCIENCE

medical leaps.. environmental responsibility.. next thing you know my fellow Americans will start learning what the mass-extinction might have to do with their many babies' bright future.

[4 t 4]

12. Love Obama n/t

[ThomWV]

13. You know, he dosen't need to dream up a grand new plan, just cancel the old Executive Order.

How hard could that be?