“the stem cell debate is dead”

The news about stem cell research without ethical controversies has filtered
through to the viewers of Oprah Winfrey. In an interview with her house medico,
Dr Mehmet Oz, and Parkinson’s disease advocate Michael J. Fox, Dr Oz said that
"the stem cell debate is dead". Oprah looked rather stunned. Here’s the new
message:

"I’m going to say something which is a bit provocative… I think, Oprah, the
stem cell debate is dead and I’ll tell you why… The problem with embryonic
stem cells is that embryonic stem cells come from embryos like all of us came
from embryos and those cells can become any cell in the body. But it’s very hard
to control them and so they can become cancer.

"But in the time of all this fighting we’re had, and which did slow down
research, there’s been a huge amount of changes made. In the last year, we’ve
made 10 years of advancement. We went places we never thought we’d go. Here’s
what the deal is. I can take a little bit of your skin. take those cell, get
them to go back in time, so they’re like they were when you were first made and
then they will start to make that dopamine. And I think those cells, because
they won’t be as prone to cancer and because they’re your genes will be the one
that are ultimately used to cure Parkinson’s.

"No one can tell how fast we can do this, but I’ve talked to a lot of experts
in this field and I think we’re single-digit years away from making a big impact
on the lives of Parkinson’s sufferers, but also diabetics, heart attack victims.
…. It could be 8 or 9 years, but it’s going to be in our lifetime and that’s
exciting to all of us in medicine.

Dr Mehmet Oz is professor and vice chairman of surgery at Columbia
University, director of the Cardiovascular Institute and founder and director
for the Complementary Medicine Program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. ~ Oprah
Winfrey

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Michael Cook

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