Stem Cell Research Tidbits

A lot has been happening with stem cell research lately, which we will be blogging about in days to come. At any rate, I thought I'd share some interesting stuff for the time being. First, Dr. Yamanaka, the man who discovered how to make adult skin cells act like embryonic stem cells, said the following in a NY Times article:

"When I saw the embryo, I suddenly realized there was such a small difference between it and my daughters. I thought, we can't keep destroying embryos for our research. There must be another way."

I nearly cried when I heard that the first time. Second, Dr. Oz, Oprah's "go-to" physician, recently was invited to talk about stem cell research on her show. With Oprah and Michael J. Fox, who struggles with Parkinson's disease and promotes embryonic stem cell research, present, Dr. Oz said:

"The stem cell debate is dead."

He went onto explain that embryonic stem cell research has not been successful at curing diseases, but adult stem research has. He believed we could see cures for diabetes, Parkinson's disease, heart disease, etc. within 10 years. Go here to watch a clip of Dr. Oz on the Oprah show. Unfortunately, the media has not done much to report on the advances in adult stem research and our president has removed barriers that previously restricted embryonic stem cell research. But we can still be very thankful for the what adult stem research is doing and will do.