| Recent discoveries about the role of stem cells in | | | | Interviewed by Vision Magazine at the Stem Cells |
| cancer have altered the landscape of cancer | | | | World Congress earlier this year in La Jolla, California, |
| research, says Medical News Today. There is, | | | | veterinarian and CEO of Vet-Stem, Robert Harmon, |
| however, a long-running philosophical rift over stem cell | | | | explained how his company is currently providing stem |
| research at both the state and federal levels. Some | | | | cell therapies for animals. Injected into an injury or |
| groups would rather focus on adult stem cell research, | | | | degenerated tissue, the stem cell treatment evokes |
| avoiding the moral and ethical questions about | | | | healing in unprecedented ways. |
| research involving embryos. While ethical debate on | | | | As it has been since its discovery almost 400 years |
| human embryonic stem cells will continue, much more | | | | ago, the cell and the "vital force" that makes it the seat |
| is occurring on the rings surrounding this bull's-eye issue, | | | | of biological life continues to hold attention. It is likely |
| including research in both drug development and adult | | | | that there will be no end to the moral and ethical |
| stem cells. | | | | questions and investigations. Today's new age of |
| Biologists' understanding of new sources and uses of | | | | molecular understanding, genomics, proteomics, gene |
| adult and nonembryonic stem cells is advancing rapidly. | | | | splicing and bioengineering is barely underway. It is not |
| Called "niches" or "crypts," it seems that almost | | | | surprising, then, that the more we know, the more we |
| anyplace one looks in the body (nose, eye, hair follicle, | | | | recognize how little we understand. |
| intestine, bone marrow, central nervous system), stem | | | | The timeline of discovery has been exponential: from |
| cells are being found. From such basic knowledge, it | | | | discovery of the DNA double helix in 1953, and the |
| has been reported that successful animal and human | | | | understanding of the genetic code, gene splicing and |
| therapy using patient stem cells is already occurring. | | | | cell differentiation in the 60s, 70s and 80s, science |
| As more stem cell crypts are discovered, the desire to | | | | rapidly jumped up the learning curve to the cloning of |
| understand how to manipulate them within the body | | | | whole organisms and the discovery of embryonic |
| only becomes more acute. | | | | stem cells less than a decade ago. The future |
| At the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American | | | | possibilities for the application of this knowledge seem |
| Association for Cancer Research, researchers | | | | enormous. |
| presented new discoveries about stem cells in | | | | Read the full article about Stem Cell Research and |
| leukemia, breast and colon cancer that add to the | | | | interviews with speakers at the Stem Cells World |
| growing evidence that perhaps cancer is, | | | | Conference at Vision.org. |
| fundamentally, a stem cell problem. | | | | |