Adult stem-cell breakthrough seen weakening case for embryonic cells

Published: 2005-02-10

BOSTON (CNS) -- Researchers at Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston have identified adult stem cells that may have the capacity to repair and regenerate all tissue types in the body, which experts say weakens the case for embryonic stem-cell research. "This discovery represents a major breakthrough in stem-cell therapy," said Dr. Douglas Losordo, chief of cardiovascular research at St. Elizabeth's. "Based on our findings we believe these newly discovered stem-cells may have the capacity to generate into most tissue types in the human body. This is a very unique property that until this time has only been found in embryonic stem cells." Losordo, together with Dr. Young-sup Yoon, led the team of researchers whose findings demonstrating the unique properties of these cells were published in the Feb. 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center is the flagship hospital of the Boston's Caritas Christi Health Care System and a teaching hospital of the Tufts University School of Medicine. Reviewing the study for The Pilot, Boston's archdiocesan newspaper, Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, director of education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia, characterized the researchers' findings as "very exciting." He said it "shows that there is a higher degree of flexibility in adult stem cells than many have thought in the past." According to Father Pacholczyk, supporters of research using embryonic stem cells have long argued that adult stem cells were not as flexible as embryonic stem cells, thus making them less useful in repairing or healing damaged tissues and cells in the body.

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