The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) has issued a statement reiterating the importance of embryonic and adult stem cell research. The move comes following results of a recent study led by Douglas Melton, co-director of the Institute and a founding member of the ISSCR, where non-insulin producing cells were transformed into insulin-producing cells via a technique known as direct reprogramming.
“There is no question that this study represents a great advance in the field of regenerative medicine,” says Dr. George Q. Daley, ISSCR past-president and associate director of the Stem Cell Program at Children’s Hospital Boston, in the ISSCR press release. “But as Dr. Melton himself has emphatically stated, this advance does not negate the role of research with induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) or human embryonic stem cells. In fact, it is embryonic stem cell research that provides science with the very foundation and insights that make advances like this study possible. There is no question that embryonic and all adult forms of stem cell research must continue if we are to realize the full promise of regenerative medicine.”
The ISSCR reiterates the need for all forms of stem cell research. International Society for Stem Cell Research. September 3rd 2008.
