Nobel Prize for Adult Stem Cell Research?

By ConservativeBelle on October 8, 2007 6:37 PM | No Comments

A team of stem cell researchers was recently awarded the 2007 Nobel prize for medicine.

Stem cell researchers Mario Capecchi, Martin Evans and Oliver Smithies won the 2007 Nobel prize for medicine or physiology for their work on gene changes in mice using embryonic cells, Sweden's Karolinska Institute said on Monday.

The prestigious 10 million Swedish crown ($1.54 million) prize recognized the international team's work, saying the benefits to mankind would increase in many years to come.

When will there be a Nobel prize for medicine awarded to those who have actually produced successful treatments using adult stem cells?

Adult stem cells, such as blood-forming stem cells in bone marrow (called hematopoietic stem cells, or HSCs), are currently the only type of stem cell commonly used to treat human diseases. Doctors have been transferring HSCs in bone marrow transplants for over 40 years. More advanced techniques of collecting, or "harvesting," HSCs are now used in order to treat leukemia, lymphoma and several inherited blood disorders.

And where are the media headlines for these successes versus the outcry of limited embryonic stem cell research?