Editorial: Controversy not over

Saturday, Nov. 24, 2007 | 7:28 a.m.

Scientists in the United States and Japan announced this week that they have adapted human skin cells to act as embryonic stem cells, a discovery that some say could advance medical research without the contentious debate surrounding the use of stem cells taken from human embryos.

The studies that resulted in the breakthroughs, conducted by separate teams of scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and in Japan, were published, respectively, in the journals Science and Cell. They are an extension of studies completed in June in which the scientists fashioned pseudo-stem cells from mouse skin cells.

Stem cells, formed in the first five days after conception, can be reconfigured into an array of cells and are thought to offer the best chance of finding cures to cancer, Alzheimer's and other diseases.

In 2001 President Bush banned federal funding for much research using human embryonic stem cells, even though the cells scientists sought to use were from embryos that were being discarded. The ban prohibits the use of stem cells harvested after the president's 2001 declaration, even though the existing supply of stem cells is contaminated or too small, scientists say.

When researchers announced their mouse skin cell discovery in June, they said "a lot more work" needed to be done and cautioned against claiming the discovery as a victory that would sidestep the embryonic stem cell debate.

And in making their announcement this week, researchers again cautioned that hurdles remain. For example, these new human stem-type cells are not as versatile as embryonic stem cells.

As we said in a June editorial, such discoveries hold promise. But Congress should not discard its efforts to overturn Bush's ban on funding this vital research tool. When it comes to finding cures for some of our most debilitating and life-threatening illnesses, all avenues of research should remain open.