US stem cell funding ban lift: the implications

Barack Obama yesterday overturned the ban on US federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research. Professor Claudio Stern, Chair of the steering committee for the UCL Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, explains what stem cells are, the benefits they bring to medical research and UCL's strengths in this area. 'Stem cells are unique cells that have the ability to renew themselves almost indefinitely. Some of them can also give rise to almost any cell type: a brain neuron, a muscle cell, a blood cell or perhaps bone. Cells with these properties can be isolated from embryos, but a very small number of adult stem cells also exist, embedded in various tissues of the adult body. 'Because of their self-renewing and versatile properties, there is considerable hope that the power of these cells can be harnessed for therapeutic applications, especially for diseases that currently have no cure. For example, Parkinson's disease is due to a decrease in dopamine production in particular areas of the brain.