Joe Carter looks at a breakthrough in stem cell research.
…scientists from Harvard and Wake Forest report that they have discovered a new source of stems cells that have the ability to create muscle, bone, fat, blood vessel, nerve, and liver cells in the laboratory. These newly discovered stem cells, which they have named amniotic fluid-derived stem (AFS) cells, may represent an intermediate stage–“halfway houses”–between embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells.
Early research seems to suggest that the AFSC will have the benefits of ESC, without the drawbacks – both ethical and medical. Cures from these cells will not be derived from a destroyed human embryo. No cloning is needed to produce large quantities needed. So far, tumors have not been a problem.
If this research pans out, which who knows because medical research tends to oversell and underperform, should this not be the solution to the ESCR debate. Why go after a cure that is at best morally “gray,” when there is a cure with no morally quandries?