Embryonic stem cells have not cured or successfully treated a single patient. Contrast that with the more than 70 conditions that are treatable using non-embryonic stem cell therapies.
Note: Conditions treatable using non-embryonic stem cells are listed in this article.
Adult Stem Cells: It's Not Pie-in-the-Sky
Though embryonic stem cell research advocates euphemistically refer to the current state of research as an “early stage”, the unfortunate reality is the goal of embryonic stem cell therapies is, at this point, more accurately described as a pipe dream. No researcher is anywhere close to significant progress in developing practical embryonic stem cell therapies.
The only thing certain is that the cost of that research will be high. If embryonic stem cell research had real and imminent possibilities, private investors would be pouring capital into research hoping for real and imminent profits. Instead, venture capital firms are contributing to political efforts to get taxpayers to fund research. What the venture capitalists seem to be hoping for is that taxpayer funding of stem cell research will increase the value of their stakes in biotech companies. The venture capitalists can then cash out at a hefty profit, leaving taxpayers holding the bag of fruitless research.
Ron Reagan Wrong on Stem Cells
"Using embryonic stem cells, researchers at Stanford University who are working on a cure for Type I diabetes are producing new pancreatic islet cells that could be used in human transplants and could herald a cure for this devastating illness."
Actually, the latest research findings regarding embryonic stem cells are that they do not actually produce insulin in response to glucose changes in their environment and are NOT the pancreatic beta cells needed to treat diabetes. When placed in animals, the cells did not reverse diabetes; instead, they formed tumors.
"A Korean research team recently made history by using human embryonic stem cells to cure Parkinson's disease in rats."
That is what they claim, but the research is a long way from producing a safe and effective treatment for humans. On the one known occasion when earlier-stage (before 6 weeks) fetal tissue was used to try to treat a human Parkinson's patient, the tissue killed the patient by forming clumps of bone, skin and hair in the middle of his brain.
Moreover, animal trials with embryonic stem cells repeatedly kill many of the animals because of formation of brain tumors.
Meanwhile, the first clinical trial using a patient's own adult brain stem cells to treat Parkinson's has produced a lasting 80% reversal of symptoms, and wider human trials are being planned.
Prof Sherley said the tumours, called teratomas, were generally considered benign, but it was possible they could metastasize or produce chemicals such as enzymes and cytokines that affect other parts of the body.