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A bill to remove South Dakota’s restrictions against embryonic stem cell research was introduced yesterday in the state senate. SB 195 would strike from SDCL 34-14 the language prohibiting human embryos from being used for research.  The bill was sponsored by Senators Nesselhuf, Adelstein, Nelson, and Turbak Berry and Representatives Engels, Blake, Cutler, Dreyer, Hoffman, Hunhoff (Bernie), McLaughlin, and Street. We knew this was coming for some time now. Last summer the Argus Leader ran an article about Sanford Health in Sioux Falls under the heading “Sanford eyes stem cell study.”In that article we read A new donation from philanthropist T. Denny...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- In just a matter of weeks, Barack Obama may force Americans to spend millions for unproven embryonic stem cell research. Yet, scientists admit they are having significant problems overcoming one of the major hurdles that may prevent the cells from every helping human patients. While adult stem cells have helped patients with a wide range of dozens of diseases and conditions, embryonic stem cells have yet to help one patient and have had problems in animals. One major problem is that they tend to form cancerous cells or tumors after they are injected -- and scientists...

The Neolib Attack on Adult Stem Cells By Michael Fumento  November 11, 2004 The only beneficiaries of ESC therapy to date have been these guys, and precious few at that.   Among the magazines even die-hard right-wingers should sometimes read are the neo-liberal ones The New Republic and the Washington Monthly. They often contain thoughtful articles with stimulating fresh thinking. Alas that makes it all the worse when they publish something moldier than a slab of Roquefort cheese. So it is with their current combined attack on adult stem cell research, designed to support the alternative of embryonic stem cells....

UNITED KINGDOM, August 23, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Modern stem-cell advancements in umbilical cord blood have rendered human embryonic stem-cell research unnecessary according to a prestigious UK researcher, who calls cord blood the “realistic future of stem-cell technology.” In this second part of an exclusive interview with LifeSiteNews.com, Dr. Peter Hollands, the Chief Science Officer of the UK Blood Bank and early pioneer of embryonic stem-cell research, explains that embryonic stem-cell researchers will keep their public mandate unless a vast media campaign educates the public about the superior benefits and proven cures of cord blood. In a previous interview, Dr. Hollands...

The Vatican has fired a warning shot over the bows of Barack Obama in response to the President-elect's intention to lift the US ban on embryonic stem cell research. Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan of Mexico, who acts as the Vatican health minister, said that stem cells taken from human embryos and involving the destruction of the embryos "serve no purpose". Asked whether the Vatican was concerned about reports that Mr Obama might reverse the Bush Administration's ban, the cardinal said that embryonic stem cell research had not resulted in any significant health cure so far and was "good for nothing"....

Local and national Catholics reacted Tuesday to statements by Diocese of Scranton Bishop Joseph F. Martino apparently discounting teachings of the national body of bishops during a political forum at a Honesdale Roman Catholic Church this weekend. Martino arrived unannounced in the midst of a panel discussion on faith issues and the presidential campaign at St. John’s Catholic Church on Sunday. According to people who attended the event, the bishop chastised the group for holding the forum and particularly took issue with the discussion and distribution of excerpts from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ position on voting issues. The...

In the ongoing debate about stem cell research, few people differentiate between adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells. Also, few know that there are over 70 successful treatments from adult stem cells and none from embryonic.1What has many up in arms is that the production of embryonic stem cells endangers the life of a very small, but distinctly human, person. Once a human egg has been fertilized, a new cell results, called a zygote. This single cell contains all the instructions required to mature and develop a full-term baby and is therefore rightly considered an immature person. The...

Some of Australia's leading bio-scientists are taking a closer look at a new, ethically acceptable stem cell research route that avoids the use of human embryos in the search for possible cures for degenerative diseases.  While not yet convinced that the "exciting" new method is as promising as using embryonic stem cells, they are studying the relative merits of the two approaches.  A major research breakthrough announced in Japan and the U.S. last November revealed that human "adult" skin cells can be reprogrammed into a new kind of cell -- an induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell -- that shares an...

New York is set to spend $600 million in taxpayer dollars on stem cell research. A recently released draft plan drooling over the potential of embryonic cells to cure a variety of diseases has drawn this blast from Rev. Ruben Diaz, the state senate's sole pro-life Democrat: June 13, 2008Judy Doesschate, J.D.Director of Board OperationsWadsworth CenterNew York State Department of HealthEmpire State Plaza, Box 509Albany, NY 12208-0509Dear Ms. Doesschate:This letter is to express my response to the Empire State Stem Cell Board’s strategic framework that will guide New York State’s $600 Million, 11-year investment in stem cell research. The...

Once an Embryo… June 23rd, 2008 by Fr. Frank Pavone The US bishops have issued a very clear statement on embryonic stem cell research. It does not dwell upon the scientific nuances of the issue, but rather assists the reader to focus on the moral issues involved. The statement is not marked by condemnation, but rather by explanation. It is not a rejection of research or of those who stand to benefit from research, but rather a call to pursue the well being of those very individuals by preserving the moral standards that protect their dignity and that of the...

The US bishops have issued a very clear statement on embryonic stem cell research. It does not dwell upon the scientific nuances of the issue, but rather assists the reader to focus on the moral issues involved. The statement is not marked by condemnation, but rather by explanation. It is not a rejection of research or of those who stand to benefit from research, but rather a call to pursue the well being of those very individuals by preserving the moral standards that protect their dignity and that of the rest of us. The statement reminds us that there is...

How America came to accept using human embryos for research In the ten years since Dr. James Thomson at the University of Madison first procured human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), support for the prospect of using human embryos and fetuses for research purposes has gradually seeped into the American mindset to the point at which it is now broadly tolerated, if not openly endorsed, especially in the political arena, in academia, and certainly within the scientific community. [1] As we continue to advance as a nation into the age of developmental biology there is reason to fear that Americans are...

The promoters of embryonic stem cell enterprises continue to tout soon to come “breakthroughs” accompanied by supine media coverage and inaccurate statements by “the scientists” who twist and distort scientific definitions to win a political debate. Such spin in the name of science, actually corrupts science. Latest example: Another company is claiming that “next year” it will start human ESC trials. From a column by Orange County Register “biomedical innovation” columnist Colin Stewart, who has apparently drunk the Kool-Aid. First there is his cruelly hyped headline: “ALS patients could get help from stem cells next year:” From his column:...

Lord Patel of Dunkeld, chairman of the UK National Stem Cell Network and chancellor of Dundee University, told the Scotsman earlier this week that research involving stem cells would likely lead to therapies, but that ultimately such treatments could prove too risky for human use. He also said it could be five to ten years before viable stem cell treatments were available. But even then, he observed, "We have to be cautious. It may not deliver therapy for anything. We may find that stem therapy is quite a risky business." In terms of the efficacy of stem cell cures, Lord...

Hundreds of embryonic stem-cell lines that provide hope for treating devastating disorders such as sickle cell anemia and Down syndrome are available for research but are off-limits to federal scientists because of White House restrictions, scientists said Wednesday. The three presidential candidates - Republican John McCain and Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama - all support expanded federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research. Their actions would lift a restriction imposed by President Bush in 2001 that limits federally funded research to fewer than two dozen embryonic stem cell lines. --snip-- Wednesday's first-ever conference of the Global Forum of...

(BEIJING) — They're paralyzed from diving accidents and car crashes, disabled by Parkinson's, or blind. With few options available at home in America, they search the Internet for experimental treatments — and often land on Web sites promoting stem cell treatments in China. They mortgage their houses and their hometowns hold fundraisers as they scrape together the tens of thousands of dollars needed for travel and the hope for a miracle cure. A number of these medical tourists claim some success when they return home: Jim Savage, a Houston man with paralysis from a spinal cord injury, says he can...

Kyoto, Japan (LifeNews.com) -- Dr. Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University made international headlines recently when he devised a new process that allows for the creation of embryonic stem cells without the destruction of human life. Now, Yamanaka says he was prompted to search for ethical alternatives by his own conscience. Invited by a friend to take a look at a human embryo -- a unique human being -- under a microscope, Dr. Yamanaka had a moral spark that changed his career.   “When I saw the embryo, I suddenly realized there was such a small difference between it and my...

Corrected. Blood from mice treated with iPS cells (above) does not show the sickle-shaped cells present in untreated mice (top).Credit: J. Hanna et al., Science Skin cells reprogrammed to act like embryonic stem cells--a breakthrough first reported in human cells 2 weeks ago--are already showing promise as a therapeutic agent. In today's online edition of Science, researchers describe using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells to alleviate symptoms of sickle cell anemia in mice. The technique is not yet safe to try in people, but scientists say it is proof of principle that iPS cells could someday treat human disease. Induced...

November 21, 2007, 1:40 a.m. Brave New FutureWorking together with stem cells. An NRO Symposium On Tuesday, two scientific journals announced news of a breakthrough that could put an end to our dead-end political debates about stem-cell research. In response to the news, National Review Online asked a group of experts: How big is Tuesday’s new somatic-cell reprogramming news? Where does the stem-cell/cloning debate go from here? How should politics respond? Here’s what they had to say. William HurlbutThe news represents very hopeful progress toward a complete resolution to the stem-cell impasse. I think the president deserves a lot...

I believe I represent the average Republican voter, or at least a significant slice of the R base. My positions - in no particular order - are as follows: Immigration - Amnesty is a deal breaker. If they are here illegally and we come into contact with them, send them home. Iraq - We were winning, we are winning, and we will win. The various pitfalls and difficulties that we have had do not equal defeat. We need a President to stand firm, and to fire all the traitors(I am not using this word lightly) in the State Department and...