Two centres of excellence in particular are awaiting the final confirmation. These are Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Their current work focuses mainly on adult stem cell research, but they anticipate a huge increase in research activity once Obama overturns George Bush's ban.
Lifting this ban will make embryonic stem cell research mainstream, according to a lead researcher at Baylor College.
Embryonic stem cells can become any of the 220 types of cell in the body. Scientists predict they will one day be used to make new tissue to replace old and diseased nerves, bones, muscles, heart tissue, and blood vessels. For example, animal studies have already shown it may be possible to create new brain cells, muscle tissue, and pancreatic cells, with potential for treating Parkinson's, muscular dsytrophy and diabetes, respectively.
In 2001, Bush put the brakes on embryonic stem cell research by restricting it to existing cell lines only (ie no more harvesting from embryos). There were only about 20 or so of these in existence at the time and their condition was said to be poor and not very useful for clinical work. Many scientists felt this severely hampered their ability to do serious research in the field.
During his election campaign, Obama promised to lift Bush's restriction to allow scientists to use stem cells harvested from embryos that would otherwise be discarded in fertility clinics. He is planning to do this after he has finished working on the plans to revive the economy, said the Chronicle. A legal bill would still be needed to ratify the policy.
Some say Bush wanted to slow down embryonic stem cell research to make scientists focus on adult stem cells.
Adult stem cells are not as versatile as embryonic stem cells: their potential tends to be restricted to the type of tissue they originated from, although some recent experiments have shown they may be more plastic than first thought and it might be possible to make them behave more like embryonic stem cells.
However, scientists are nervous about using the adult stem cell approach because it involves using genetically engineered viruses which can cause tumors.
