LOS ANGELES, January 27, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In Los Angeles, Aastrom Biosciences Inc., a private biotech company, has announced that it uses only adult stem cells in its stem cell research. The company, however, was not making the announcement based on ethical motivations.

An article in the journal, Nature Medicine, said Sunday that the embryonic stem cell lines approved for public funding by the US government are contaminated with an animal molecule making them unsuitable for some research. Aastrom made the announcement after its stock fell 19% when investors assumed that their cells were from the contaminated lines. The company is using adult cells to do research into repairing severe bone fractures.

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