CBS Deceptive Stem Cell Research Report

In this news report, CBS begins by referencing Embryonic Stem Cell Research, backed by President Obama, yet the only stem cell research that has yielded solid results uses stem cells NOT from embryos (such as from adult skin cells). Only an astute viewer, listening carefully to every word of this report, would uncover the truth buried in this report.

-- From "Stem Cell Cures Any Closer?" by Jonathan LaPook, CBS News 3/16/10

Twelve years after the discovery of the human embryonic stem cell, research is finally picking up steam. Over the past 7 years, the National Institutes of Health have almost tripled its investment in stem cell research to more than $1 billion.

CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook reports the number of embryonic stem cell lines funded by the government has doubled - from 21 to 44 today. More than 200 U.S. companies are researching stem cells. So the report card on stem cell research is promising -- but incomplete.

Two years ago, scientists found another way to create stem cells from ordinary skin cells. That breakthrough lets researchers study diseases in a dish. For example, skin cells from a patient with ALS have been turned into the kind of nerve cells attacked by the disease. For the first time, those living nerves can be studied - outside the body - to figure out what goes wrong.

. . . Even if everything goes right, [embryonic] stem-cell based treatments are still years away. But this may be one of those rare instances in medicine when the hype is actually deserved.

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

On the other hand, embryonic stem-cell based treatments may never, ever materialize; while other (adult) stem-cell based treatments continue to cure many diseases.