Obama to Overturn a Ban on Stem Cell Research dating back to President George W. Bush
Friday, March 6, 2009
Barack Obama is slated to sign an executive order to overturn the executive order signed by President George W. Bush in August 2001, which barred the national Instututes of health from funding research on embryonic stem cells beyond using 60 cell lines that existed at that time.
Embryonic stem cells are blank cells found in four- to five-day-old embryos, which have the ability to turn into any cell in the body. However, when stem cells are removed, the embryo is destroyed -- which has made this one of the most controversial medical research fields in the past decade. Eight years ago, it was thought that stem cell research could not happen without the destruction of living human embryos, but according to House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, claims that this is no longer true. Thus it should be safe now.
In a related story, a 42-year-old man that had HIV (aids), who received stem cells, now appears to be free from from HIV. It has been two years since his transplantation of the cells, and he shows no signs of HIV disease and uses no medication. In yet another story, Fedeeral regulators say the coast is clear to start the first human trials of human embryonic stem-cell research. They will be tested first on patients with spinal cord injuries, called complete spinal cord injuries. This is one such injury where at this time there is no hope of recovery below the injury. There will be a two-fold purpose for trials on human patients. First, to see if injecting patients with these cells are safe, and then to actually see if there is any type of recovery after the injection.
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