Editorial: New source of stem cells

Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2007 | 7:15 a.m.

Researchers are encouraged by a new study released Sunday that may open up a new source of stem cells for medical research, which has been hampered by the Bush administration's opposition to embryonic stem cell research.

A team led by Dr. Anthony Atala of Wake Forest University's Institute for Regenerative Medicine found stem cells in amniotic fluid taken from routine tests on pregnant women.

While cautious, Atala and other researchers hope this could open up more stem cell research, which is seen as a great hope to create medical treatments for a variety of diseases, including Parkinson's and muscular dystrophy. Stem cells have the ability to develop into specialized cells, and researchers hope they can channel stem cells to help the body repair damaged organs.

Dr. Robert Lanza of the stem cell company Advanced Cell Technology called it a "giant step forward for stem cell research." Researchers, however, said this new work should not be seen as a replacement for embryonic stem cells, which are prized because they can change into more than 220 different types of cells.

Lanza noted that the cells Atala's team found "can clearly generate a broad range of important cell types, but may not do as many tricks as embryonic stem cells."

Researchers have largely had to rely on nonembryonic stem cells because the administration has limited funding for work with embryonic stem cells. President Bush opposes embryonic stem cell research because, he says, taking the stem cells from a five-day-old embryo, which destroys the embryo, is killing a human life. Legislation last year that should have been a happy compromise - funding stem cell research on embryos to be discarded by fertility clinics - was vetoed by Bush.

That is a shame. The treatments and cures of some of the most debilitating diseases may not be far out of reach, but to find them, researchers need to work with embryonic stem cells as well. The work by Atala's team is extremely encouraging, but it is not the complete answer.