One of the most debated topics in health care today is the cause and practice of embryonic stem cell research. Stem cells are primary cells with the ability to become renewed through cell division and form the basis of a wide range of specialized cell types, such as bone, muscle, nerve, brain, organ, tissue, blood and other cells.

In a developing embryo, stem cells are able to differentiate into all of the specialized embryonic tissues. In adult organisms, stem cells and progenitor cells act as a repair system for the body, replenishing specialized cells. Thus, stem cells from an embryo are more adaptable and flexible when new tissues are needed.

Because of their unique combined abilities of unlimited expansion and potency, embryonic stem cells are a potential source for regenerative medicine and tissue replacement after injury or disease. The moral debate that has raged in the medical community is not so much the use of embryonic stem cell in research than the source of the stem cells. According to Catholic teaching, obtaining embryonic stem cells from human fetuses at the expense of the life of the fetus is morally wrong.

However, Reuters News announced in January 2007 that the Vatican welcomed a new way of extracting stem cells that does not use human embryos, calling it a significant advance that could help medical research without going against Roman Catholic beliefs.

Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, said the discovery showed medicine can progress without destroying human embryos.

Recently, U.S. researchers announced that stem cells found in the amniotic fluid protecting babies in the womb were nearly as powerful as embryonic stem cells in producing adaptable cells that scientists hope can someday transform medicine.

"I am very glad to see this progress in the field of science for the good of humankind," Barragan told Vatican Radio, noting it did not violate "the life of the donor."

In an interview with the Italian daily La Stampa, he called the discovery "a very significant and ethically admissible advance" in the search for cells that can create muscle, bone and other cells to replace damaged ones.

Scientific discovery and research have brought much advancement in the field of medicine and solved multiple problems throughout the decades. We hope that this new breakthrough in identifying a rich and safe source of embryonic stem cells produces rewarding results in the area of stem cell treatment.

Source: Reuter News, January 2007