This past November I wrote that embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) had not led to any successful human treatments. I was wrong.
It turns out there are several clinical studies that have used stem cells derived from human embryos to successfully treat human conditions. In one case, embryonic stem cells were used to treat patients with macular degeneration and macular dystrophy. Researchers transplanted human embryonic stem cells into the affected eyes and showed measurable improvement. So, I can’t claim that that embryonic stem cells have treated zero conditions.
None of this changes the main points I make on this topic, though. Adult-derived stem cells are still the superior choice. It’s still true that adult stem cells have been far more successful at treating conditions in humans. It’s still true that it’s not necessary to clone human beings with adult stem cells. And, most importantly, it’s still true that treating conditions using adult stem cells doesn’t require you to kill innocent human beings.