Dr. David Ball, Lab Director

The recent lifting of restrictions on stem cell research would seem to hold promise for advances in this important area of medicine.  And, without a doubt, this change of political policy will allow scientific advancement to run its course.  The question now becomes, where will that run take us?  The promise is clear - potential for cures of widely variant diseases such as diabetes, spinal cord injuries, cancer, burn victims, even blindness.  The realization of these promises will not happen today or next week, but progress is more likely to happen more quickly with these political changes.

Having said this, the source of these stem cells should be kept in mind.  Having mentioned the political, medical and scientific arenas above, this area of discussion touches on the moral side of stem cell research.  The origin of these cells should be kept in mind - they are derived from culture of human embryos, typically those embryos that have been designated for research use by the “parents” whose gametes created them.  This would seem to be a very humane use for these embryos that would, in many cases, otherwise be destroyed or remain in storage for decades.

It will be interesting to see where society strikes a balance on these various issues and decides how far open the door should be opened to allow stem cell research advancement.  We have all seen that some in society have strong convictions that life begins at conception and that, once created, these embryos should be assigned all the rights associated with living that a full term infant has.  On the other extreme, there are those that find no moral issues with creating human embryos for the sole purpose of research use.  In some ways, these issues are more difficult to reconcile than those posed in the medical, scientific or even political arena.  As with all else in life, time will tell.