Latest stem cell reprogram method by Thomson not pro-life

Latest Thomson Study Reported as Major Breakthrough to Embryonic Stem Cell Research is Not Pro-Life!
March 30, 2009

There’s a lot of hype out there once more on the latest research involving reprogramming adult stem cells to become “embryonic”. (See our previous reports linked below.)

The most recent announcement last week was that of James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in which he reprogrammed neonatal foreskin cells, which are classified as “adult” or “mature” stem cells, using a plasmid, technique to deliver the genes into the foreskin cells, rather than a lentivirus.  The result was a transformation of the adult cells to an “embryonic” state. While Thomson hailed the process as much safer than past experiments (which is still highly debatable) in which he used lentiviruses to deliver the genes, what was not reported was his use of embryonic stem cells and aborted fetal cell lines as sources for the genes. 

As in every other study conducted thus far, the immorally obtainedl cell lines have been an integral part of the research. And just as he did in 2008, Thomson admits he used the exact same reprogramming genes from his and Yamanaka’s previous studies – and those sources were later discovered to originate from both embryonic and aborted fetal cell lines.

The latest study is published in Science on-line magazine. http://www.the-scientist.com/templates/trackable/display/blog.jsp?type=blog&o_url=blog/display/55548&id=55548 

Let the public beware: what all studies fail to acknowledge is that if adult stem cells truly become embryonic, they will carry the same fatal tumors found in all embryonic stem cell applications which have plagued any success of using them in human applications.  So what is the “major breakthrough” in that?