On Embryonic Stem Cell Research
From the Journal of Cell Biology: "Talk of policy has dominated talk of science for those interested in embryonic stem cell science. But research is continuing, and the advances are making clear why embryonic stem cells [ESCs] are such an important scientific and medical resource. ... To assess the state of the field, we check in with five bench scientists who are pushing embryonic cells to be all that they can be. The projects they are tackling include a survey of what gives an ESC its identity, new attempts at deriving ESCs from [somatic cell nuclear transfer, or therapeutic cloning], perfecting the transformation of ESCs into either oligodendrocytes that make myelin or pancreatic cells that make insulin, and creating an ESC-based model for Alzheimer's disease." ESC research is vital to the end goal of replacing cells lost with age, thus preventing a range of degenerative, fatal conditions.