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Human Embryos Sacrificed For Experiments On Rats

LOS ANGELES, July 3, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com)- Scientists at the University of California sacrificed human embryos to harvest stem cells that were used in treatment designed to help paralyzed rats walk. The scientists have claimed limited success and say they intend to apply the procedure to humans with recent spinal cord injuries and localised damage.

However, they were quick to admit that no trials with humans were likely in the near future due to the fact that all such experiments in the past have ended with horrific results due to the embryonic stem cells causing tumors. Dr. Hans Keirstead at the University of California, Irvine, whose team did the latest research, said, "Undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells have a very high probability of forming tumours."

Yet, the leaders of U.S biotechnology company Geron of Menlo Park, California, which has emerged as a world leader in unethical human embryonic stem cell research, seemed content to ignore the problems.

Geron's president, Thomas Okarma, downplayed advances in adult stem cells saying that "At this moment, there is very little hard evidence that a bone marrow stem cell can turn into anything but blood or that a skin cell can become anything but skin."

His statements fly in the face of enormous amounts of recent scientific advances which have demonstrated the versatility of adult stem cells. As far back as 2001 researchers at McGill university in Montreal discovered a stem cell, dubbed a 'miracle' cell, in adult bone marrow that turned into heart muscle, blood vessels and fibrous tissue. And this past December, Doctors at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles used stem cells from bone marrow to generate brain cells and nervous system cells that can be used to treat
brain cancer, Alzheimer's and other diseases.

Okarma made Geron's goals obvious when he explained that he hopes the results will help persuade policy makers in Washington not to ban therapeutic cloning. The issue is an important one for Geron which owns more than 90 issued or pending patents covering human embryonic stem cell research technology.

See New Scientist coverage:
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993894

See additional LifeSite coverage:
BONE MARROW STEM CELLS GENERATE BRAIN, NEURAL CELLS
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/dec/02122008.html
ADULT STEM CELL FOUND WHICH CAUSES NO IMMUNE REJECTION
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2001/dec/01121202.html
MORE THAN ONE IN FOUR RATS IN EMBRYONIC STEM CELL EXPERIMENT DEVELOP TUMOURS
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/jan/02010804.html
ADULTS STEM CELLS AND HUMAN FAT ERODE IMPETUS FOR USING EMBRYONIC CELLS
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2001/apr/01041002.html

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