Alzheimer's and Stem Cell Research

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Since today is World Alzheimer's Day, it seems appropriate to take a look at what people are saying about stem cell research and Alzheimer's disease. Chris Mooney has been keeping track, and has a number of posts on the topic:

It's a favorite talking point of the anti-embryonic stem cell research crowd: ES cell transplants will never cure Alzheimer's, they claim. Is it true?
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Lessons that can be learned from stem cell transplants for Parkinson's and other types of neurodegenerative disease will reveal a great deal about cell signaling and cell environment that could be applied in Alzheimer's.

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Stem cell transplant therapy doesn't sound like a good bet for Alzheimer's, as scientists fully admit. However, basic research using embryonic stem cells, including from cloned embryos, holds considerable promise for increasing our understanding of the development of the disease, and that in turn could lead to potential cures. So, it's not at all disingenous to talk about Alzheimer's in connection with stem cell research, unless you misleadingly claim that stem cell transplant therapies are going to cure Alzheimer's.

Modern bioinformatics ensures that serious research into any disease tends to improve our overall knowledge of human biochemistry and cellular processes.