[skip navigation]
It seems like every week brings new developments and breakthroughs in Genetic Engineering, and few announcements have been bigger than the report that a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists were able to cultivate human stem cells. The possibilities for future medical advances from this discovery are amazing.
The most immediate likely use of the technology will be new diagnostic tests to screen hundreds of thousands of compounds for possible medicinal properties. Ironic, isn't it -- yet another technology that animal rights activists abhor might ultimately lead to a further reduction in the number of animals used in the drug development process (makes you kind of wonder where animal rights activists think alternatives to animal testing come from. Do they think they just drop from the sky?)
In the long run, the work with stem cells could lead to all sorts of breathtaking developments from growing heart muscle and brain tissue for transplantation to enhancing understanding of the development of human embryos.
"Our hope is that these cells could be grown in the laboratory and then used to regenerate failing tissue," said Thomas Okarma, vice president for research and development at Geron Corporation, which paid for some of the stem cell research. "Because these cells do not age, they could be used to generate virtually a limitless supply of cells and tissues for transplantation."