Stem Cell research has been and will probably continue to be the new lightening rod of Pro-Life / Pro-Choice debate. The President's decisive action established a clear line of leadership on this issue. Despite the false hopes, exaggerated claims and shoddy science, this one man - in the right position at the right time - stemmed a tide that may have led to countless thousands of destroyed embryos and a larger desensitizing ripple through human society.
Low and behold, during the intervening years since that decision, the smart money has invested in extracting stem cells from adults - negating the need to destroy embryos. In one recent study, scientists discovered that male testes are a veritable farmyard of stem cells. Apparently, the female ovaries look to provide a similarly fertile field (pun intended).
Adult stem cells taken from testicles could be a source for everything from blood vessels and heart tissue to new brain cells, report Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers.
Unsurprisingly, the combination (stem cells + testes!) caught the attention of journalists. Australia's ABC News did a nice job of pointing out that the findings, made in mice, have a long way to go before helping people, and that women's ovaries might provide equally adaptable adult stem cells. Scientific American noted that similar findings were made earlier in the year, so at least this isn't a one-off.
The BBC hinted that men would be reluctant because extracting the cells would be "very painful," but didn't say how it's done; apparently it's like getting a biopsy, which I'd imagine is rather less painful than, say, heart disease or dementia. The New York Post covered it briefly -- mostly, I suspect, to let their headline writers have some fun. (The result: "New Ballgame for Stem Cells".)
On Principle,
CBass
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