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embryonic versus umbilical stem cells

SkepticalScience

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Can anyone here tell me what the difference between embryonic and umbilical stem cells are??

I for one, am all for stem cell research - but the other day, I heard that embryonic stem cells are just as good. That there is no big difference at all.

Their point was, that there is an "agenda" out there to keep abortion legalized - and this is what is causing scientist and drug companies to push for embryonic stem cells.

I pretty much dismissed the whole conspiracy thing - but it got me to thinking, just what the deal was with these 2 different types of stem cells.

Any help folks??
SS
 
SkepticalScience said:
Can anyone here tell me what the difference between embryonic and umbilical stem cells are??

I for one, am all for stem cell research - but the other day, I heard that embryonic stem cells are just as good. That there is no big difference at all.

Their point was, that there is an "agenda" out there to keep abortion legalized - and this is what is causing scientist and drug companies to push for embryonic stem cells.

I pretty much dismissed the whole conspiracy thing - but it got me to thinking, just what the deal was with these 2 different types of stem cells.
Click to expand...

The idea that there's a 'conspiricy' to keep abortion legalized is a myth (since they don't really need THAT many sources of stem cells).

I'm not a doctor, but I'll see what I can do to explain things...

There are 2 types of stem cells, embryonic and adult (for example, ones taken from umbilical cords, bone marrow, etc.. When using these cells for treatment, the important factor is how well can these things differentiate to form the various types of tissue that are needed. It was once thought that adult stem cells were too 'fixed' and couldn't really change into enough tissue types, whereas embryonic stem cells had the ability to change into almost anything. (Thus, embryonic stem cells would be more useful.)

However, after years of research they've found many ways to coax the adult stem cells to form tissues than they were expecting during treatments. Embryonic stem cells, however, have often had the unfortunate effect of turning into cancer. As a result, after years of work, they are currently using adult stem cells to treat dozens of diseases, while 'cures' using embryonic stem cells haven't even made it past the animal testing stage.

Of course, this COULD be due to the fact that the Federal government has restricted funding on Embryonic stem cell research; however, there is enough private funding going on (plus research in other countries) that you would expect at least SOME successes with embryonic stem cells.

Fumento goes into a lot more detail on his web site. (Note: He does tend to write for more right-wing publications; however, I've read a lot of stuff on his web site, and he does seem to back up his statements with links to articles in scientific literature.)

http://www.fumento.com/sustemcell.html
 
Thanks a lot Segnosaur.

So, what exactly is the difference between the two types of stem cells?? It would seem to me, that if there really aren't too many differences - then maybe science should just focus in on non-embryonic stem cells.

A lot of people wouldn't be as upset, right??

Not saying that's a good reason - but why should science waste all their time and energies fighting to legalize embryonic stem cells, when there is another source that is equally as good.

I think if I knew the difference between the two, I'd have a different position on the issue.

Quote: "The idea that there's a 'conspiricy' to keep abortion legalized is a myth (since they don't really need THAT many sources of stem cells)."

Nice answer!
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