Bone Marrow Stem Cell Research Moving Forward

I complain so much about bad media, I feel duty-bound to point out when a good story is printed—either because it is accurate about ES cells, or because it reports progress being made steadiy with adult stem cells.

This story in the SF Chronicle, byline Sabin Russell, is an example of the latter category. Russell reports that progress is being made at UC Berkeley using a form of bone marrow stem cell, and transforming them into other types of tissues. There is a long way to go before this procedure is ready for prime time—if it ever will be—but obviously, this is good news.

Of course, it should be noted that this kind of encouraging experimentation will almost certainly not be funded by Proposition 71 money. That money is reserved for now for human cloning research and ESCR. Adult stem cell researchers need not apply.

(Full Disclosure: My wife is a columnist at the Chronicle.)