Stem Cell Research Cures |

Federal court stops funding of embryo-destructive research

A U.S. District Court has issued a preliminary injunction in the case of Sherley v. Sebelius on August 23 that stops guidelines allowing federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. Judge Royce Lamberth wrote that guidelines drafted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are in probable violation of the Dickey-Wicker Amendment which prohibits the federal government from supporting research that destroys human embryos with tax dollars.

Legislation merely provides framework for Prop 2

State Capitol When the voters passed Proposal 2 more than one year ago, they approved an amendment to the Michigan Constitution allowing embryos remaining from fertility treatments to be destroyed for their stem cells. The amendment does not allow buying or selling embryos, the embryos must be less than two weeks into development and the parents donating their embryonic children must give their written consent.

Adult stem cell research far ahead of embryonic

The Associated Press featured an article by science writer Malcolm Ritter which notes that adult stem cells are currently being used in a variety of successful treatments while embryonic stem cells are lagging behind. The story details several current experiments and treatments using adult stem cells.

Editorial calls for priority shift to adult stem cell treatments

Representative Randy Forbes (R-Va.) and biochemist Dr. David Prentice have an editorial in Roll Call urging funding priorities be shifted from unsuccessful embryonic stem cell research to adult stem cell research that is currently treating patients.

Organizations supporting embryonic stem cell research

The following is a list of organizations that have expressed support for human embryonic stem cell research. Research with embryonic stem cells necessitates the destruction of human embryos.

Headlines

Rats with Parkinson's treated by iPS cells
Researchers claim they have used induced pluripotent stem cells to improve motor function in rats with brain injuries similar to Parkinson's Disease. The study mirrored similar effects in animal experiments using human embryonic stem cells. FULL STORY

Guided adult stem cells aid heart repair
Mayo clinic researchers have discovered that modifying adult stem cells with a protein increased their ability to treat heart damage in mice. FULL STORY

Delayed trial using embryonic stem cells allowed to proceed
The first ever clinical trial using embryonic stem cells had been cleared by the FDA to proceed. The trial was delayed one year ago by the FDA due to safety concerns. FULL STORY

Doctors treat trachea cancer with transplanted windpipe
Two patients suffering from a rare form of trachea cancer received transplanted windpipes. The donor windpipes were stripped of living cells, and the patients' own adult stem cells were able to regenerate and create functioning windpipes. FULL STORY

Adult stem cells could be substitute for artificial joint replacement
Researchers have successfully replaced damage leg joints in rabbits using adult stem cells. Naturally-grown replacement joints could potentially be able to outlast current artificial joint replacements. FULL STORY

Stem Cell Fact Sheets

Show Me the Treatments
See a list of ailments in human patients that have been successfully treated with adult stem cells. To date, there are NO ailments treated with human embryonic stem cells. Not one human patient has been part of a human embryonic stem cell trial. PDF

Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Putting Women at Risk

Where will all the eggs come from? Using embryonic stem cells from cloned human embryos to treat a single disease would require an impossible number of reproductive-aged women to go through the onerous and sometimes dangerous process of donating their eggs. PDF

Fact Sheet - Advances in Ethical Stem Cell Research

Proponents of human embryonic stem cell research often cite all of the potential treatments that may result from the research but fail to mention that human life is destroyed when removing these cells from a human embryo. Now researchers have pioneered a different kind of treatment that carries the same potential for treating disease... without destroying human lives. PDF

The Embryonic Stem Cell Research Money Trail

Some embryonic stem cell researchers are interested in more than curing patients. They're interested in obtaining patents. Learn how some embryonic stem cell researchers are fighting to make big profits off of embryonic stem cells. PDF

The Great Stem Cell Debate: Understanding the Basics
As the debate over stem cells rages on, Right to Life of Michigan has put together a fact sheet discussing basic information about the issue and the difference between adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells. PDF