Can "womb fluid" end the embryonic stem cell debate?

From http://www.prolifenews.tv/index.php/article/can_womb_fluid_end_the_embryonic_stem_cell_debate/



Monday, January 08, 2007

Can "womb fluid" end the embryonic stem cell debate?

Timesonline.co.uk reports that American scientists have been experimenting with amniotic fluid as a possible replacement for embryonic stem cells.

Article

They have called them amniotic fluid-derived stem (AFS) cells and said that they represented an “intermediate stage” between embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. The cells have the same potential as embryonic stem cells and their ready availability makes them vital to research, the scientists said.

States all across America are starting up funding programs for embryonic stem cell research. California, Missouri and others are spending billions based on the promise of healing benefits derived from human beings who are killed in the womb, or who are created for destruction in the laboratory. This new process would not destroy humans in order to help us. It would instead accelerate the early cell stage experimentation through amniotic fluids since those types of cells are readily available, without the ethical baggage.

Professor Anthony Atala, director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest, said that it had taken seven years to verify that ammiotic [sic] fluid contained true stem cells. “Our hope is that these cells will provide a valuable resource for tissue repair and for engineered organs as well. These cells are capable of extensive self-renewal — a defining property of stem cells. They also can be used to produce a broad range of cells that may be valuable for therapy.”
This follows on the heels of a controversial scientific pursuit, the creation of “part-human, part-animal chimera embryos”, which the British government has threatened to ban.

Will this be enough to stop the current search for cures using killed human beings? It is unlikely in the short term. So many billions of dollars have been committed to this venture, it’s hard to say if the researchers will be willing to change course, or if the new process can be patented for maximum profit.