Drug makers and doctors alike are lauding ethical adult-cell research.
John McNeish, an executive director at the world’s largest drug maker, Pfizer, called it a "tremendous" discovery that researchers have learned how to coax adult cells into behaving like embryonic stem cells.
"They will help us understand personalized medicine, genetic variation, ethnic populations, what biomarkers to follow," he told Reuters.
McNeish heads Pfizer's new regenerative medicine unit, which aims to combine the company's strengths in making pills with therapies that take advantage of the unique properties of stem cells.
Wisconsin’s Dr. James Thomson, known for being the first scientist to isolate stem cells, admitted that destructive embryonic research may not be necessary.
Dawn Vargo, bioethics analyst at Focus on the Family Action, said: “It's heartening to see scientists and biotechnology companies recognize the new, ethical research with reprogrammed adult cells. Unfortunately, they have not taken a moral stand against destructive embryonic stem-cell research.”
— Danielle Hohncke
