Stem cell research gives hope for treatment of life-threatening
diseases
24 JULY 2004
| |  |  | Dr Marsh explains the merits of Stem Cell Therapy to Sarah Jones | | Video files are available. Download the latest Quicktime plug-in to view them. |
Stem cell research may be able to offer treatment for life-threatening
diseases, such as Parkinsons, MS and Alzheimers.
The idea of therapeutic cloning is to take adult cells from a person’s
body, create cloned embryos and extract embryonic stem cells that can
turn into a wide range of tissues, such as skin, nerves and muscle,
which are all a perfect match for the patient. Therefore, there is no
fear of the body rejecting the new cells. It may even be possible, albeit
a long way ahead to grow whole organs.
There is also often popular confusion between reproductive cloning
and therapeutic cloning. Although reproductive cloning has received
much criticism, many researchers see enormous potential in therapeutic
cloning and the notion of growing tissue for patients that is genetically
identical to their own.
Dr. Edward Marsh, of the Department of Biochemistry of Thames University
has called the ability to isolate and use stem cells "the most
important biotechnological breakthrough since the discovery of penicillin".
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Edward
Marsh 
