In October there was a conference on stem cell research, held in Australia. One finding presented at the conference was that children’s discarded baby teeth, when carefully preserved, can have more stem cells than an embryo, and those cells may be more versatile as well. If further work bears this out, it provides a way out of the ethical dilemma stem cells pose.
The conference also reported on the use of stem cells to cure diabetes in mice, while elsewhere stem cells taken from an umbilical cord have been used to cure spinal injuries. It’s essential that we move ahead with research using stem cells, especially those that come from such unobjectionable sources. For that reason I’m grateful that California decided to fund stem cell research, a move other states would be wise to follow.