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Stem Cells Cure Paralyzed Rats
An anonymous reader writes "According to an article on Forbes as well as other sources, 'Scientists have used [embryonic] stem cells and a soup of nerve-friendly chemicals to not just bridge a damaged spinal cord but actually regrow the circuitry needed to move a muscle, helping partially paralyzed rats walk.'"
Every human ever treated with embryonic stem cells developed terminal cancer in a few months. We'll see how long until these rodents die of cancer.
Andy Out!
Really, this exemplifies the sort of research we've been talking about when it comes to stem cells. Unfortunately, the actual scientific possibilities were overshadowed by a bunch of political bullshit.
The source of stem cells is a profoundly important debate. Do we really want to breed and sacrifice a race of sound humans to fix broken bodies already deselected by nature?
Stem cells, biology (evolution!), global warming...The subjection of science to political considerations has to stop.
The debate over evolution will end once the science starts getting a better defense. Global warming is political by nature. It is a scientific growth industry which obtains venture capital by spreading fear. Its track record of prediction is among the worst in all of science. It is also the primary tactic of a "green movement" whose real motive is to foist a weird, agrarian, impoverished ideal on prosperous industrial society.
an ill wind that blows no good
The very Christian fundamentalists who violently oppose biomedical research are ensuring the Darwinian survival of the fittest they themselves deny exists.